newstodate.aero

Aug 07, 2020 (newstodate): Denmark's Billund Airport did see its total cargo volumes down by 25.6 percent, y-o-y, in July 2020.
   -That is one approach to describe the situation. Another is to acknowledge that we actually managed to keep 75 percent of the volumes despite the challenges from a global melt-down in the aviation industry in 2020 caused by the coronavirus, says Jan Ditlevsen, Billund Airport VP Cargo.
   -The loss in cargo at Billund Airport is primarily attributed to the virtual stop to commercial passenger aviation at the main European airports that generate transfer cargo to and from the Danish market via Billund Airport. And at this point in time, it remains to be seen when and to what degree the traffic will pick up again.
   -Still, Billund has seen a significant rise in full-charter ad-hoc operations in 2020. In 2019, we handled eight full-freighters including three import and five export freighter flights; so far into 2020 this has grown to handling of 48 all-cargo ad-hoc flights including 28 on the import and 20 on the export side, carrying PPE, perishables and industrial shipments.
   -In 2020, Billund Airport is also handling 42 weekly scheduled freighter flights including Turkish Cargo, TNT/FedEx, DHL and time:matters - totaling 1,302 movements  during the period, feeding the core of the Danish industry located in the region with air cargo services.
   -Summing up, we did lose 10.8 percent of the cargo during January-July 2020, compared to last year. But looking at the figures for July 2020, we deplore the over-all drop in volumes while still preferring to see the cup 75 percent filled, says Mr Ditlevsen