(Compared to previous week: ↗↘→)

At around 4%, the cargo volume has risen slightly compared to the previous month (→). In July, approximately 80% of the cargo was flown with freighters (→), 15% as belly cargo (↗) and only 5% (↘) with cargoonly passenger aircrafts. The ratio of imports to exports has hardly changed compared to the previous month (→). The share of approx. 51% import and 49% export has remained stable and is almost back to the precorona ratio of 50% to 50%.

In terms of the number of flight movements and the amount of cargo transported, the cargo-only freighters showed a sideways movement compared to the previous month (→). Freighter movements continue to be approx. 5% above the 2019 figures (↗) due to the stable number of additional charter flights. The number of passenger flight movements almost doubled in July (↗). At the same time, the number of cargo-only passenger flights fell by approx. 40% (↘). In terms of cargo volume, the cargo transported has shifted almost 1 to 1 from cargo-only passenger aircraft to passenger aircraft.

Classification of the current situation by the cargo stakeholders interviewed

The evaluation of the current situation is the same for imports and exports: around 80% of those interviewed stated that the current cargo volume is "as expected" or "less than expected" (↘). There is also no difference between imports and exports in terms of future development: almost 80% of those interviewed rated future cargo volumes as stable (→). This gives the impression that the lack of dynamic in the development of volumes is leading to a wait-and-see and cautious attitude among the actors. Capacities and resources were adjusted to the new situation and, according to the feedback received, were adequate in 90% of cases (→).

There was only a consistent assessment of the product groups with regard to the strength in pharmaceutical cargo volume (→). On the other hand, the picture was more divers for automotive and textiles: for both groups increases and decreases were reported. This may indicate that no industry trend is apparent here, but that the developments are carried by individual market players, only.

Nearly 100% of the respondents were satisfied with the site performance (in-house, landside, airside and public authorities) or rated it as adequate. Only a single displeasure with the landside performance was mentioned.

Reported findings and need for action from the experience of recent months

The extraordinary import peak, characterized by loose freight as well as many individual shipments and thus a lot of documentation effort, was like a stress test. This helped the respective actors to discover sources of error and to question processes and the development of the cargo structure in general. This will play a relevant role in the further development of FRA. In order to adapt processes to the demand in a flexible manner and to stabilize them at peak load, the cross-actor transparency of the current situation has proven to be a success factor. Both a closer organized exchange between stakeholders involved and digitalized processes for better data availability and efficiency improvements are important. In order to maintain high flexibility in the fulfilment of customer requirements, short decision-making and newly established coordination procedures should be maintained.

Issued by: FRA Cargo Team as of: August 18th 2020, Cargo & Logistics Infrastructure Development, ZFL, Fraport AG
For further questions or hints please contact us via e-mail: