Airport News
With over 48,000 tonnes of cargo handled (+6.3% on 2012), 2013 was another record year for Chopin Airport.
The Warsaw airport handled a total of 48,200 tonnes of freight in the twelve months of 2013, including 47,500 tonnes internationally (+6.4%) and 626 tonnes domestically (-3.9%). Imports exceeded exports, with 27,300 tonnes and 20,200 tonnes respectively. The airport also handled 16,000 tonnes of mail.
The most popular cargo destinations in terms of volume carried included: Cologne (8,400 t), Leipzig (5,100 t), Chicago (4,000 t), Dubai (3,900 t) and New York (3,100 t). The biggest cargo carriers were LOT Polish Airlines (16,900 t), UPS Airlines (9,800 t), European Air Transport (5,100 t), Emirates (3,900 t) and Sprint Air (2,100 t).
“Cargo handling is an important source of aviation revenues for Chopin Airport. Obviously, it is still much smaller than revenue from passenger traffic, but we can see a large potential for growth of this market segment and want to develop it further,” said MichaÅ‚ Marzec, director of Chopin Airport. “Last year we opened the second cargo terminal at Chopin Airport, which is operated by ground handling company Welcome Airport Services. This allowed us to considerably reduce the prices of cargo handling by LS Airport Services, the operator of the first terminal.”
He added: “Our plans for the near future include further extension of cargo infrastructure. A new apron for cargo planes is almost ready, the construction of yet another freight terminal is due to start soon. Study works are drawing to a close that will help us work out the best way to go about the project – whether Polish Airports, as the operator of Chopin Airport, should build the terminal and transfer it to be operated by a specialised third-party company or whether we should rather lease it the land for the construction of the facility. The next few weeks should see the completion of market research, resulting in a draft list of companies interested in working with us. We would like to attract businesses which haven’t worked with Chopin Airport before, for example, integrators such as World Air Cargo or Schenker”.
Chopin Airport is Poland’s biggest airport. It handles scheduled, charter, general aviation and cargo traffic. In 2013, the airport welcomed over 10.6 million passengers. It is served by 27 scheduled airlines (including two low-cost), offering services to 75 destination in 38 countries on four continents in the 2013/14 winter season.
