JKIA ranked second fastest growing in air cargo globally
Jomo Kenyatta International Airport has been ranked as the second fastest growing airport in the latest world cargo ranking for airports that handled more than 250,000 metric tonnes of air cargo.
This was revealed in the Airports Council International (ACI) latest World Airport Traffic Report, which highlights top airports for passengers, cargo and aircraft movements and showcases the world’s fastest growing airports for 2018
JKIA was only beaten by Rockford, an expansive air cargo hub in the United States, which was the fastest-growing airport in 2018 as the e-commerce freight hub for online retail giant Amazon.
According to the report, JKIA was ranked second in the ‘Fastest Growing Airports category, after it handled more than 342,000 metric tons of air cargo in 2018, marking a 25% growth from 2017.
Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) has credited the notable growth at JKIA to substantial increase in air cargo traffic to and from Europe, Asia, America as well as recent additions China and Australia.
KAA also said the country’s biggest airport has recently transformed its air cargo management and also embraced participation of public and private sectors hence its improvement in global standing.
The authority said the construction of several modern transit sheds at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport has seen the airport’s overall cargo grow to 1.2million tons annually.
“This is an exciting time for Kenya, the face of cargo is changing, and we are positioning JKIA as the premier cargo distribution center for online commerce companies in the region,” said KAA CEO Jonny Anderson.
Hong Kong International Airport, Memphis International Airport, Shanghai Pudong International Airport, Incheon International Airport and Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport lead in total cargo volumes respectively.
The report further found that, in total, the world’s airports accommodated 8.8 billion passengers, 122.7 million metric tonnes of cargo, and 99.9 million aircraft movements.
JKIA currently handles an estimated 6.5 million passengers annually.