Ranking: Cargo airports: These airports are the giants of world trade

The extent to which crises affect international cargo air traffic is demonstrated by Taiwan. The industry association Airports Council International (ACI) ranked the country's largest cargo airport in Taipei seventh in the world in 2022. According to the 2024 annual report, it only ranked tenth in the following year. The goods handled at the airport with the code TPE totaled 2.11 million tons. That was 16.8 percent less than the previous year.

But airport operators in the USA also came under pressure after the pandemic boom. Los Angeles Airport LAX was able to maintain its ninth place in the ranking. However, according to ACI, this was down 14.9 percent to 2.13 million tons of freight. Compared to the pre-pandemic year of 2019, LAX was still 1.9 percent better - and thus much better than the industry as a whole. According to the report, the industry recorded a decline of 4.9 percent compared to 2019. Compared to 2022, the decline was 1.8 percent worldwide.

According to ACI, only four of the ten largest cargo airports in the world were able to grow in 2023. According to the analysis, one of these winners was Qatar Airways' home base in Doha. The handling of goods rose by 1.5 percent to 2.36 million tons. Doha thus managed to jump from eleventh to eighth place. This was also the ranking in 2019.

Miami was the only US airport in the top 10 to gain ground. The airport industry association upgraded the hub in the southeast of the United States by 1.0 percent to 2.56 million tons. This means that Miami improved from eighth to seventh place in international comparison. Immediately before the pandemic, the cargo airport had to settle for twelfth place.

Louisville is not exactly one of the largest US airports for international travelers. However, it is the home airport of the cargo airline UPS Airlines. But it also had to contend with declining numbers in 2023. The ranking recorded a decrease of 11.1 percent for the airport to 2.73 million tons of cargo. Louisville thus continued its annual decline by one place and landed in sixth place.

For tourists, the journey to Korea begins on the west coast of the country. There, right by the sea, is the airport of the city of Incheon, about an hour's drive from Seoul. According to ACI, it is one of the five largest cargo airports in the world. According to the ranking, the volume of cargo handled recently fell by 6.9 percent to 2.74 million tons. However, in a generally difficult year for the industry, this was enough for Incheon to improve from sixth to fifth place (which it had already occupied in 2019).

Alaska and Canada were once important hubs for international passenger air traffic. As aircraft tanks grew larger, stopovers in North America became unnecessary. But Anchorage in Alaska continues to play a key role in freight traffic. In the competition between the four largest cargo airports, however, a drop of 2.4 percent to 3.38 million tons was enough to slip from third to fourth place. Compared to 2019, however, Anchorage still recorded a whopping increase of 23.1 percent, according to ACI.

According to the ranking, none of the world's ten largest cargo airports has grown as much as Shanghai recently. An increase of 10.4 percent to 3.38 million tons of cargo meant that Shanghai was able to move up one place and displace Anchorage from third place. However, Shanghai was one of the six airports in the top 10 that remained below pre-pandemic figures.

In Memphis, too, a large parcel and freight company is behind the ranking among the largest cargo airports in the world. This is where FedEx's home base and most important hub is located. 3.88 million tons of freight secured Memphis second place in the ranking, as in 2022 and 2019. However, the airport remained 4.0 percent below the 2022 balance and 10.2 percent below that of 2019.

Hong Kong remains by far the largest cargo airport in the world and defends its first place from previous years. ACI reported a throughput of 4.33 million tons in its 2024 annual report. The increase of 3.1 percent meant that Hong Kong was one of the four airports in the top 10 that were able to improve. However, the Asian hub remained 10.0 percent below its 2019 result. The title of "Largest European Cargo Airport" went to Paris in 15th place, closely followed by Frankfurt am Main (16th place). These were the only European representatives in the top 20.