Heathrow Airport struggles with increasing cargo congestion, delays

Industry leaders have called for infrastructure changes as the airport has seen cargo volumes increase 10 percent in just one year, leading to congestion, delays and an inability to reach the airport’s cargo center, according to multiple media reports.    London’s Heathrow Airport has long struggled with cargo congestion and delays, but the industry is now calling for a solution “as a matter of urgency,” according to multiple media reports.
   U.K.-based trucking organization Road Haulage Association (RHA) has demanded that Heathrow Airport update its freight movement facilities immediately due to the increasing congestion and inability to access the airport’s cargo center. According to Motor Transport, the weakened pound has also caused cargo shipments to surge at Heathrow this year, with the airport reporting a 10.5 percent year-over-year increase in volumes, adding to the congestion dilemma.
   Direct General Robert Keen of the British International Freight Association’s (BIFA) told UK Haulier, “Congestion at the horseshoe (the airport’s cargo center) is as bad as it has ever been and the local police are now turning away vehicles, leading to a huge rise in complaints from our members. Britain’s largest port by value recently announced that its cargo volumes have soared over the past 12 months. Last month its non-executive Lord Deighton launched a new plan to minimize the impact of emissions caused by freight vehicles around the airport.”
   Keen said the plain highlighted ten major steps in order to handle Heathrow’s cargo, including a cloud-based app for local forwarders, upgrading cargo infrastructure at the airport, consolidation points away from local roads and a new cargo village to reduce unnecessary vehicle movements.
   “We understand the airport will collaborate with local authorities to address congestion points with the introduction of a code of conduct for operators and a joint strategic freight plan for local roads. Our members, who currently are enduring misery on a daily basis when using the airport’s cargo center, want action not words,” Keen said.
   Plans for an underground warehouse were approved at Heathrow Airport in July, but the facility will not undergo construction until 2019, with cargo space not available until 2022.
   Additionally, plans to vote for a third runway at the airport were again delayed until 2018 – the second delay since 2016. A third runway has been been the subject of heated debate for years as a crucial piece of infrastructure in preventing a cargo capacity crisis.