East Midlands Airport set for record December

East Midlands Airport

East Midlands Airport (EMA) says its cargo handling services are set for one of the busiest Decembers ever.

During the busiest periods in the run-up to Christmas, over one million packages will be flown in and out of EMA each night.

In the first half of December, the volume of goods handled at EMA was up almost 3% on the same time last year. It is predicted that this figure will grow even further by the end of the month, making this December one of the busiest ever.

Fuelling this growth is e-commerce, with increasing numbers of people shopping for Christmas presents online. Goods coming through the airport range from clothes to super-cars, which reflects the variation in budgets that people put aside for Christmas spending. In total, goods to and from both the EU and non-EU countries equates to 1000 tonnes a day.

Earlier this year the airport hit a significant milestone when the value of goods shipped to and from non-EU countries through EMA in the 12 months leading up to July exceeded £10bn for the first time ever. Of this, £5.3bn was exports.

Looking ahead to next year, 2019 will see further growth to its freight operation as the work to build a new £114m UPS facility will near completion. This will double UPS’s capacity and employ 1,000 people.

Karen Smart, East Midlands Airport’s Managing Director, says: “As people’s shopping habits change and the demand for next-day deliveries increase, so too will the cargo operation here. We’re a four-hour truck drive from 90 per cent of the urban population of England and Wales which makes us perfectly positioned to facilitate the delivery of goods to a huge number of people and businesses. A key part of my focus is managing this growth sustainably. By this we mean incentivising operators to use quieter, larger and more efficient aircraft so that the number of flights doesn’t necessarily have to increase. This is particularly important to minimise the impact on local communities at night time, as we are a 24/7 airport.”

Click here to sign up to receive our new South West business news...
Close