Total cargo volume at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol grew by 15.7 per cent last year compared to 2020 – up to 1.66 million tonnes.

Inbound cargo volumes increased by 15.2 per cent to 869,241 tonnes. Outbound cargo volumes grew 16.1 per cent to 798,062 tonnes.

“The 2020 figures are encouraging in light of the ongoing challenges of Covid on the operating environment,” said Amsterdam Airport Schiphol’s head of aviation business development Anne Marie van Hemert.

“Last year, the cargo team formed a new Aviation Business Development Division, putting all airline and cargo commercial and operational business in a single department and introducing new faces.

“The newly established team has focused on accelerating our Smart Cargo Mainport Program and ensuring faster handling of export cargo, resulting in Digital Pre-notification for all ground handlers at Schiphol as the new standard.

“Going froward, the team will focus its efforts on securing automated nomination as the new standard, with sustainability a key driver behind this and all of our digitalisation initiatives.”

The airport’s top three destinations for cargo by tonnage last year were Shanghai, China, Chicago, USA, and Dubai.

Freight volumes were shipped in two categories of flights: full freighters, which accounted for 67 per cent of total volumes, and passenger flights, which accounted for the remaining 22 per cent of total volumes.

Outbound cargo to Asia, North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa all saw increases compared to 2020.