Which are the Busiest Air Cargo Hubs of the World?

by Ed Smith, freelance journalist.

Air transportation is the quickest way to transport cargo from one place to another and every year an enormous amount of cargo is transported all over the globe. There are many airports which are deemed to be cargo hubs due to the vast amount of cargo that passes through on a regular basis. Here are a few of the busiest cargo hubs around:

Anchorage International Airport, USA

Located in Alaska, the Anchorage International Airport is a strategic hub for cargo which is being transported between North America and the Far East. It is an airport that is used mainly for cargo air charter with many airlines bringing supplies to the remote communities in Alaska.

Hong Kong International Airport, China

By size, the Hong Kong International Airport is the busiest cargo airport on the planet and also one of the busiest international passenger airports too. It is an important aviation centre for China’s mainland and is supposed to only get bigger and busier in the coming years.

Frankfurt Airport, Germany

This airport continues to grow and it is now the busiest cargo hub in Europe. The airport, called CargoCity, is split into two major areas and there are special facilities available for airmail, animals, hazardous materials, frozen food and express freight.

Memphis International Airport

Memphis International Airport is often said to be the biggest cargo airport by volume in the world. The airport is the main base for FedEx Express and their global activities and the airport is said to handle around 3.3 million packages every single day.

Dubai International Airport

The Dubai Cargo Gateway is opposite the Dubai International Airport and has become the main stop-off location between Europe and the Far East. The airport continues to grow so it is likely that this will be one of the major cargo airports in the near future particularly as Dubai continues to become a popular destination for businesses.

Incheon International Airport, South Korea

The Incheon International Airport is one of the busiest in the entire world for cargo largely because it is a major hub for cargo traffic in East Asia. It features a few high-profile customers and has expanded in recent times so that it can handle much more cargo each year.

These are a few of the main airports in terms of cargo all around the world. This is an often overlooked aspect of aviation but it is incredibly important and the best way to transport cargo over long distances as it is so much faster than shipping. There are a handful of other notable cargo airports which are sure to become bigger and more important in the coming years, such as Paris Charles de Gaulle, Singapore Changi, Shanghai Pudong and Louisville International Airport.

Author:

Ed Smith is freelance journalist with a strong interest in the world of aviation and logistics. After graduating with a degree in economics from Durham University, he went on to work in The City for a few years, before turning to researching and writing about upcoming trends in the industry for a number of publications.