East Midlands Airport (EMA) is playing critical role as UK’s largest dedicated air cargo operation keeps goods moving into Britain during the outbreak.
In the week immediately following the Government’s announcement about stricter social distancing measures (16 March), the number of cargo aircraft movements increased by 10 per cent at EMA. Across the two weeks to 29 March, cargo aircraft movements increased by an average of 7.4 per cent a day.
This growth has been driven by:
• A sudden need for more urgent medical and PPE equipment, including facemasks
• More ad-hoc flights as EMA takes on additional capacity from other airports that are now closed at night, together with a reduction in long-haul passenger flights from other UK airports which would normally carry urgent cargo alongside passenger luggage
• Strict social distancing measures leading to more people shopping online and ordering goods for home delivery, many of which come from overseas stockists
• Increased operations by well-established carriers that have the infrastructure and broader international network supply chains in place at East Midlands Airport
The latest European air traffic statistics published by Eurocontrol, show that EMA has seen the smallest drop in flight numbers of any major airport in Europe over the last week. This is followed by Bergen, Stavanger and Cologne.
Here in the UK, every other major airport last week saw aircraft movements fall by at least 60 per cent compared with the same week last year. East Midlands, on the other hand, has bucked this trend and continued to operate 60 per cent of its scheduled flights. Unlike most airports, however, the aircraft operating out of EMA have been filled with products rather than people.
