Border triangle sees rise in airfreight traffic
According to its director Matthias Suhr (at the table, between the new head of public affairs & communications Stefan Wyer, left, and vice director Frédéric Velter, speaker), Basel-Mulhouse airport is "carefully optimistic" about the gradual resumption of air traffic planned for the next few days.
Since the beginning of the crisis, the airport in the border triangle between Switzerland, France and Germany has successfully pursued the aim to maintain its liquidity without applying for state aid. Now it is getting ready to overcome the crisis.
In contrast to passenger traffic, which will probably see a massive downturn of up to 80% by the end of 2020 compared to the record number of 9.1 million passengers in 2019, airfreight volumes have remained stable.
For instance, by diverting one of its services from Luxembourg and deploying additional charters to combat the epidemic, which was particularly virulent in Alsace on the French side of the border, Qatar Airways Cargo triggered a 36.5% rise in maindeck cargo volumes to 6,165 t by April 2020. At 14,939 t, express cargo showed a slight decline (-6.4%), but combined with RFS (16,326 t, +9.4%) this segment increased by 5.7%. (ah)