newstodate.aero

Jun 25, 2020 (newstodate): Cargo statistics for May 2020 are still in the red at Latvia's Riga Airport. But underlying trends are positive..
   A total of 1,385 tonnes of cargo was handled at the airport, a decrease by 34.9 percent, y-o-y.
   Cargo volumes were 1,065 tonnes, while mail volumes reached 320 tonnes.
   In the first five months of this year, the airport has been handling 8,075 tonnes of cargo and mail: a drop by 25.2 percent, y-o-y.
    The figures are, however, marked by the lockdown and virtual stop to all passenger flights which brought belly cargo capacity down as well.
   Instead, freighter operations by the Ukrainian cargo carrier Eleron since January 17, 2020, between Lviv and Riga have grown in combination with the Russian cargo carrier Atran's flights bringing in e-shipments from China via Moscow, outbalancing a proportion of the loss of belly cargo volumes on passenger flights.
   This freighter traffic by Eleron and Atran is poised to grow further in both frequencies and aircraft size.
   Air mail was earlier a strong segment at Riga Airport, but volumes have reduced drastically as mail is mostly carried on international passenger flights, down from 1,069 tonnes in January to only 320 tonnes in May 2020.