The only way out for Heathrow to cope with UK cargo demand is to increase its cargo handling capacity.

Independent Cole Commission report on exports has released last week in which findings of FTA echoes that Heathrow airport will not be able to compete in the air freight market without increasing its cargo handling capacity.

The findings of the report say that sufficient export capacity is very critical if the UK wants to win the race of growth and cargo competition in the region. The current checks on Heathrow could see Schiphol handling doubled as of the freights at London airport at present and it is highly likely that the Schiphol cargo operation will be four times by 2030 as of the operations at Heathrow.

Importance of airfreights to UK Economy

The report by Cole Commission states the FTA findings as sky high value and reflects the importance of air cargo to the economy of United Kingdom. It also replicates FTA’s role to the airport commission’s investigations into the air cargo capacity of Heathrow.

It also shows that how FTA has specifically looked at the issues of air freight rather than passengers and business travels from London airport.

The York Aviation Report

The Cole Commission Report also commissioned an in-depth study named the York Aviation Report which also confirmed Heathrow as the critical business hub for the UK economy and air freight operations. It highlighted that a failure to build a new runway at the airport would result in a loss of connectivity with the world.

The absence of newrun way will also affect the transfer of services to competitor airport in the region. Heathrow airport covers 191 destinations in the world and handles 1.5 milliontonnes of incoming and outgoing cargo every year. The Heathrow is vital for UK economy and its connectivity to main overseas markets.

It is very important to understand that the demand of air freight is rapidly increasing and Heathrow is currently operating at 98 percent capacity which means it’s time to die for Heathrow. There is no way out to handle the rapidly increasing demands of air freight without an expansion in the airport. FTA says that expansion is very necessary to meet the need of industry.

FTA has constantly upheld the importance of air cargo to the economy of the Kingdom, which represents more than 40 percent of imports and exports by value. Air cargo plays a crucial role in the supply chain sector of UK businesses.

FTA Director of Global and European Policy, Chris Welsh says Heathrow is a vital national asset to connect the country with new and emerging markets in Asian regions in which cargo to Pakistan and Indian subcontinent at the peak.