International airports see August freight growth

Airports Council International said Dubai World Central is expected to become the world’s busiest airport.    Airports Council International said Dubai World Central (DWC) is expected to become the world’s busiest airport.
   Compared to last year, DWC’s air freight volume quintupled to more than 80,000 metric tons, this in just August alone, making the airport a major contributor to overall growth in cargo volumes for the Middle East.
   However, ACI said Hong Kong is still the world’s largest air freight hub. The airport increased freight volumes by 8.6 percent year-over-year, while Europe, North America and Africa had only modest year-over-year growth of 3.3 percent, 2.1 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively.   
   Although the airport industry had to overcome conflicts such as Russia and Ukraine, geopolitical threats in the Middle East and the Ebola outbreak, international freight volumes showed “robust growth in most regions, particularly at airports in the large exporting nations of the Asia Pacific,” ACI’s Economics Director Rafael Echevarne said in a statement.
   According to ACI, overall accumulated air freight volumes increased 3.6 percent during the past 12 months, while August freight volumes increased 5.8 percent year-over-year. For international freight, volumes increased 7.5 percent year-over-year.