Amsterdam Airport Schiphol handled 736,608 metric tons of cargo in the first half of 2013, rising 1.02 percent compared with the same period in 2012.
Exports for the first half of the year rose to 362,124 metric tons, representing 49.16 percent of the total cargo, while the proportion of imports fell slightly to 50.84 percent of the total cargo, at 374,484 metric tons.
Schiphol’s largest market remained Asia, with 281,410 metric tons, up 3 percent year-over-year, accounting for 38.2 percent of total cargo. North America remained Schiphol’s second largest market, with an overall share of 17.0 percent, down from 17.9 percent in the same period last year. The Middle East moved up to third place, and Africa slipped to fourth place. Latin America retained the fifth position.
“2013 is showing a similar pattern to 2012 so far, with an early peak around March,” said Enno Osinga, Schiphol’s senior vice president of cargo, in a written statement. “There has been a small decline in freighter flights of around 1 percent, which reflects the tightening of freighter capacity by some carriers in the face of rising costs and soft rates.”
The Journal of Commerce