Busiest Cargo Airport in the world

1. Hong Kong International Airport

Hong Kong International Airport is located on the Island of Chek Lap Kok in Western Hong Kong. The Airport opened its Gate to the world in 1988, becoming the Busiest Cargo Airport in the world and the 9th busiest Airport in the world by Passenger traffic.

The airport covers an area of 6 hectares with a gross floor area of approximately 133,000 square meters. It offers specialized office and warehouse spaces for freight forwarders, streamlining consolidation and distribution processes.

The Competitive advantages the airport holds over its competitors are the world’s freest economy, excellent connectivity, Geographical advantage, Streamlined customs, and Sufficient stands for cargo facilities.

The airport has gained widespread recognition from various jury, including Air Cargo Week and Payload Asia for Cargo Airport of the Year in 2022.

2. Memphis International Airport

Memphis International Airport is the Busiest Cargo airport in the Western Hemisphere located in the southeast of downtown Memphis in Shelby country, Tennessee. 

This Civil Military Airport is Home to FedEx Global Hub and second to United Parcel Service and is often referred to as FedEx Superhub.

Due to the Significance presence of FedEx, The Company employs over 11,000 employees and 34 million sq. ft of space under lease. 

It operates nearly 400 flights daily, handling 180,000 packages and 245,000 documents hourly, accounting for 450 combined arrivals and departures per day.

From 1993, the Memphis Airport was the busiest cargo Airport in the world until 2009, when it was taken over by the present crowned Hong Kong International Airport.

3. Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport

Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport is a major airport in the U.S state of Alaska. The Airport is named after Ted Stevens, who served as a Senator of Alaska between 1968-2009.

Just 9 hours Flight from 90% of the developed world, Anchorage is a prime location for establishing central customer service and repair hubs, as well as for conducting final product assembly, packaging, testing, and distribution operations.

 It also serves as a strategic hub for international warehousing and distribution of high-value and time-sensitive products.

4. Shanghai Pudong International Airport

Shanghai Pudong International Airport is one of two International airports serving the financial capital of China. The airport handles more than 500 cargo operations with on time Departure rate of 65%. 

The airport is an Asia Pacific hub for FedEx, UPS and DHL. The DHL hub, opened in 2012, is the largest express hub in Asia.

In 2022, Shanghai Pudong Airport handled 3.12 million metric tons of cargo, ranking it the first among all airports in mainland China in terms of cargo throughput. Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport ranked second, with about 1.88 million metric tons of cargo.

Shanghai Pudong International Airport Cargo Terminal is one of the largest single air cargo terminal operators in the world founded in 1999 by PACTL, the existing cargo handling facility is 4 Million tons and is forecast to reach 4.57 million in 2027.

5. Louisville Muhammad International Airport

Louisville Muhammad International Airport is a civil-military airport located in Louisville, Jefferson Country in Kentucky.  

Despite being called an international airport, it doesn’t host regular international passenger flights. Still, it serves as a pivotal point of entry, handling many UPS Airlines international cargo flights through the United Parcel Service’s worldwide air hub, often referred to as UPS Worldport.

The Airport handled 3 Mn Tonnes of cargo on average each year and experienced its best year in 2019 when the airport handled 4.2 Mn tonnes of cargo. 

The Airport changed its fortune when UPS began its Overnight delivery business using SDF as the Main Hub Operation centre in 1982.  

UPS invested 1 Billion dollars to construct an enormous Worldport in 2002, which now includes 5.3 Million square feet of Modern Technology and 155 Miles of conveyor belts for package sorting.

6. Incheon International Airport

Incheon International Airport is the biggest and busiest airport in South Korea. The Incheon Airport cargo terminals include 6 Cargo terminals, 3 air freight warehouses, 4 specialised processing facilities, and 2 custom bonded areas.

The Airport has about 2.4 Million square metres of land designated as a free trade zone; this allows companies to enjoy perks like manufacturing, logistics, trade activities, reduced rental fees and tariff concessions.

In 2022, Incheon International Airport managed a total of 2.95 million tons of international air freight, with transhipment cargo accounting for approximately 1.12 million tons, or roughly 38% of the total, which is higher than neighbouring cargo airports, emerging as a pivotal logistic hub in the region.

7. Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport

Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport is based in Taoyuan City and serves the entire Northern Taiwan, including the capital city of Taiwan. The Taiwan airport has a land site of 132,585 meter square next to 12 freighter aprons and truck docks, which can serve 166 objects same time.

TACT is upgrading its annual handling capacity to more than 9,80000 tons to develop it into an Asia Pacific region operation centre.  

The TACT has extensive space and superior quality standards to handle various cargo goods like Perishable items, Live animals, Dangerous goods, Express cargo etc.

8. Miami International Airport

MIA is the leader in international freight in the Americas and the largest gateway to Latin America & the Caribbean. As a result, it controls the north/south cargo flows in the Western Hemisphere, handling 85% of all air imports and 80% of all exports from the Latin American/Caribbean region.

MIA offers service to over 160 cities on four continents with dedicated freighter service to 112 global destinations, handling 79% of all air imports and 77% of all exports to/from the region.

MIA is the first airport in the Western Hemisphere and only the second in the world to be designated by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) as a pharmaceutical freight hub and a trusted industry leader in the transport of pharmaceuticals.

9. Los Angeles International Airport

Federal Express is the dominant airfreight carrier at LAX, accounting for 11.75% of total freight cargo, followed by Polar Air Cargo and Atlas Air Inc, with 7.5% and 7.25%, respectively. Kalitta Air LLC continued as the top mail carrier, accounting for 45.85% of total mail cargo.

Los Angeles International Airport is a key transportation centre for one of the world’s most dynamic economies.

In 2022, trade at Los Angeles International Airport was valued at $153.13 billion, an increase of 9.93 per cent compared to 2021. Exports totalled $61.46 billion, up 8.28 per cent, while imports were valued at $91.67 billion, up 11.07 per cent.

10. Tokyo Narita International Airport

Tokyo Narita Airport is one of two major airports serving the greater Tokyo area other being Tokyo Haneda Airport. The Airport is situated 60 km east of central Tokyo in Narita Chiba.

The current warehouse space at Narita spans 200,000 square meters and is expected to expand its capacity to 400,000 square feet in a new cargo terminal building by the end of 2024.

In TIACT, there are 2 international cargo handling buildings and a perishable centre equipped with temperature controlled space.

11. Hamad International Airport

Hamad International Airport is the newest airport on the list. Opened on 30th April 2014, and was originally scheduled to commence operation in 2008. 

The split-level facility covers 55,000 square meters, boasting 11 wide-body Freighter aircraft stands and 42 Airside loading docks. Moreover, 31 landside truck-loading facilities enable the swift and efficient transfer of cargo. 

The new system will be capable of simultaneously handling 5,700 shipments and up to 2.6 million tonnes of cargo annually upon the completion of the second terminal.

12. Frankfurt International Airport

Frankfurt Airport is Germany’s main international airport by passenger traffic, serving the fifth largest city in Germany.

MoreFreight forwarders are located in Frankfurt than any other country in Europe. This is due to the fact that the Frankfurt airport is located at the heart of Europe and is accessible by truck from all of Europe in just 18 hours. This makes Frankfurt particularly attractive for Cargo airlines.

The Airport has all kinds of cargo facilities for handling pharmaceuticals, more than 14,000 square metres of temperature-adjustable GDP and CEIV-certified storage space next to the apron; the 4000 square metre warehouse space ensures ideal condition for over 400 animal species, with over 110 million transiting safely yearly.

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