Soft demand led to a decline in cargo traffic at Liège Airport in 2023.
Date：01-12 175 Belong to：News Information
Due to a sluggish economic environment and the restructuring of the FedEx network, cargo traffic at Liège Airport declined last year.
Belgium's busiest cargo hub saw its cargo volume just surpass 1 million tons in the past year, marking an 11.8% decrease from 2022. However, this volume still exceeded the 902,480 tons recorded in 2019.
The airport attributed this decline to the normalization of the market post the COVID-19 pandemic boost in 2021, weak economic conditions, and the comprehensive impact of FedEx's network changes following its acquisition of TNT in 2022. FedEx has reorganized its European air network, making Liège its European hub.
These changes meant flights were redirected from Liège to FedEx's primary European hub at Paris-Charles de Gaulle.
Additionally, aircraft movements decreased by 10.7% last year, amounting to 33,548 takeoffs and landings.
Laurent Jossart, CEO of Liège Airport, commented: "The FedEx restructuring fully took effect in 2023, amidst challenging international economic circumstances (Ukraine conflict, subdued Chinese market, reduced European consumer spending)."
He added, "All European cargo airports are experiencing rebounds. Even though the reference year has been quite long, it's worth noting that we saw an 11.5% growth in tonnage in 2023 compared to 2019 (pre-COVID-19 outbreak year), as we absorbed the FedEx restructuring (which began in April 2022) and air bridge freight following the Ukraine conflict (since February 2022)."
Looking ahead, the airport has a comprehensive "Vision 2040" plan totaling 500 million euros, aiming to double the capacity of its first-line cargo handling space over the next decade. The initial phase includes a development project of nearly 40,000 square meters, adding 15 additional wide-body parking stands, and upgrading the existing runway system.
Jossart emphasized, "Over the next 20 years, investments will exceed 500 million euros with the goal of becoming a multimodal transport center, an environmental benchmark, and creating employment opportunities for our region."
In other developments last year, the Walloon government imposed a limit of 55,000 movements per year at the airport.
The proportion of nighttime flights at the airport also decreased from 41.9% in 2022 to 33.3%.
(Source: Air Cargo News)
Belgium's busiest cargo hub saw its cargo volume just surpass 1 million tons in the past year, marking an 11.8% decrease from 2022. However, this volume still exceeded the 902,480 tons recorded in 2019.
The airport attributed this decline to the normalization of the market post the COVID-19 pandemic boost in 2021, weak economic conditions, and the comprehensive impact of FedEx's network changes following its acquisition of TNT in 2022. FedEx has reorganized its European air network, making Liège its European hub.
These changes meant flights were redirected from Liège to FedEx's primary European hub at Paris-Charles de Gaulle.
Additionally, aircraft movements decreased by 10.7% last year, amounting to 33,548 takeoffs and landings.
Laurent Jossart, CEO of Liège Airport, commented: "The FedEx restructuring fully took effect in 2023, amidst challenging international economic circumstances (Ukraine conflict, subdued Chinese market, reduced European consumer spending)."
He added, "All European cargo airports are experiencing rebounds. Even though the reference year has been quite long, it's worth noting that we saw an 11.5% growth in tonnage in 2023 compared to 2019 (pre-COVID-19 outbreak year), as we absorbed the FedEx restructuring (which began in April 2022) and air bridge freight following the Ukraine conflict (since February 2022)."
Looking ahead, the airport has a comprehensive "Vision 2040" plan totaling 500 million euros, aiming to double the capacity of its first-line cargo handling space over the next decade. The initial phase includes a development project of nearly 40,000 square meters, adding 15 additional wide-body parking stands, and upgrading the existing runway system.
Jossart emphasized, "Over the next 20 years, investments will exceed 500 million euros with the goal of becoming a multimodal transport center, an environmental benchmark, and creating employment opportunities for our region."
In other developments last year, the Walloon government imposed a limit of 55,000 movements per year at the airport.
The proportion of nighttime flights at the airport also decreased from 41.9% in 2022 to 33.3%.
(Source: Air Cargo News)
