look at cargo growth at airports around the world in 2005 shows an air freight business divided. For much of the world, last year was a relatively stagnant period for air cargo, with barely a few pallets worth of expansion at important industry hubs such as Memphis, Seoul, Los Angeles and Singapore. Some major gateways such as Tokyo Narita, Miami, New York Kennedy and London Heathrow even turned downward.
That wasn't the case in China, however.
Four of Mainland China's five largest airports - Shanghai Pudong, Beijing, Guangzho and Shanghai Hong Qiao - expanded at a double-digit rate in 2005, feeding off of a manufacturing explosion in the country that is driving exports to North America and Europe and remaking air trade patterns across Asia.
The fifth of those airports, No. 37 Shenzhen, grew just under 10 percent from 2004 to 2005 as shippers and forwarders worked in the shadow of the world's busiest international cargo airport, Hong Kong.
But China's ascent in the air freight picture goes well beyond the most familiar gateways. The country's spectacular growth is better illustrated deeper in the countryside, where cities such as Xiamen, Chengdu and Nanjing are taking an increasingly prominent role in global supply chains, and in China's burgeoning domestic air transport market.
This year's list of the world's busiest airports is compiled mostly from officials counts reported to Airports Council International along with separate reports from some airports that do not report directly to ACI.
One of those, Toronto Lester Pearson International Airport, cautions its cargo count is a preliminary estimate and the result of an ongoing effort to get a better understanding of freight flows. Because of that, we do not include YYZ on our list of the fastest-growing cargo airports, where Toronto's 39 percent growth over 2004 easily would count as the greatest growth among larger airports.
Any look at the growth of cargo transport through airports these days must travel through Hong Kong.
Although Memphis International Airport remains the world's busiest cargo airport, Hong Kong International Airport is coming up hard behind the FedEx Express hub and could soon pass Memphis if the trends of the past couple of years continue.
With truck transport for expedited service a dominant trend in the United States' huge domestic express industry, air shipping through Memphis is growing only by slim margins. FedEx's recently announced expansion of its secondary U.S. hub in Indianapolis, Ind. - including greater capability to handle international flights there - suggests more FedEx growth in coming years will come at IND.
Meantime, HKIA is on a roll.
Hong Kong's 10.1 percent gain in 2005 marked the third time in the last four years the airport's cargo business has grown by double digits. The growth looks to be cooling off somewhat. Handler Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminal Ltd. reports its business was up 6.2 percent through the first five months of 2006 while local officials are projecting growth between 5 and 6 percent this year.
Memphis in the first four months of 2006, grew 0.7 percent. During the same period this year, North American airports overall saw their freight tonnage fall 0.8 percent and Europe's airports grew 3.2 percent. Asia-Pacific airports, by contrast, grew 7 percent and the Middle East grew 13.5 percent over last year.
By the numbers and regions, at least, it's a business divided.
