The sale of Gatwick, the UK’s second largest airport, has stalled following the refusal of the leading bidder – a consortium involving the Manchester Airports Group (MAG) and Canadian Infrastructure firm Borealis – to raise its offer. MAG refused to raise its bid beyond £1.4 billion (US$2.3 billion), below the £1.8 billion Gatwick owner BAA originally quoted and the £1.5 billion it is currently reported to be asking for. … [Read more...] about Sale of Gatwick stalls over offer price
Air & Cargo Services
Heathrow sees June cargo improvement
London Heathrow reported a drop in cargo traffic of 14.5 per cent in June from a year ago to 103,400 tonnes, an improvement on the 19.2 per cent drop in May. London Stansted, similarly reported a traffic drop of 14.8 per cent in June to 15,271 tonnes, a slight improvement on the 15.4 per cent decline in May. London Gatwick’s plummeting cargo volumes accelerated to -32.7 per cent for a total of 5,169 tonnes from a 21.5 per cent decline in May. Air cargo and pax down at Cambodian … [Read more...] about Heathrow sees June cargo improvement
Cargo decline slows in June at Frankfurt
Europe’s busiest air cargo hub, Frankfurt airport, has reported a slowing decline in cargo traffic in June. Frankfurt handled 148,211 tonnes of cargo in June, a 16.5 per cent drop from a year earlier that followed year-on-year declines of 17.1 per cent and 24.9 per cent in May and April respectively. The improved June figure still left cargo volumes in the first half of the year 21.4 per cent down on the same period in 2008 at 822,469 tonnes compared with 1.05 million tonnes a year … [Read more...] about Cargo decline slows in June at Frankfurt
Hong Kong sees cargo stabilisation
Hong Kong Airport’s two major freight handlers, Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Ltd (HACTL) and Asia Airfreight Terminal (AAT), have both reported clear signs of a stabilisation in cargo volumes and are hopeful that the beginning of a recovery is underway. Noting that air cargo throughput is “generally a good indicator of the economy†HACTL said that while the first half of 2009 had been difficult, “it is delightful to observe the relatively stabilised tonnage … [Read more...] about Hong Kong sees cargo stabilisation
UPS opens first phase of Worldport expansion
United Parcel Service Inc. began operating the first phase of the US$1.1 billion Worldport expansion at Louisville International Airport last month. The first phase will allow UPS to expand its package-sorting capacity at the hub by 15 per cent, to 350,000 packages per hour, from 304,000 packages per hour. The second phase is scheduled to open in May 2010. A third phase will begin when the economy turns around and air freightshipping rebounds, the company said. When the total project is … [Read more...] about UPS opens first phase of Worldport expansion
New US$8.8 million facility in NZ for DHL
DHL Global Forwarding has announced a fresh investment of US$8.8 million in New Zealand for a new 11,600 sqm facility adjacent to the Auckland International Airport. The new office and warehouse facility will support anticipated business growth and offer enhanced logistics solutions to customers from all industry sectors, the company said. “We have seen our business in New Zealand grow 20 per cent over the past two years with the life science pharmaceutical, industrial and FMCG sectors … [Read more...] about New US$8.8 million facility in NZ for DHL
