Munich Airport has announced that year-on-year volumes of cargo handled at its facilities fell during the third quarter of the year, hit by the global economic downturn.
During the three-month period, the volume of flown airfreight fell 16.4 per cent, down to 166,150 tonnes from the 198,714 tonnes flown in the corresponding period of 2008.
In a statement, Munich Airport officials said that while the economic crisis had 'put a dampener' on results, the fall actually marked an improvement on the first-half of the year, when volumes fell 18 per cent year-on-year.
In addition, the Airport Authority said that a surge in demand had been seen in some long-haul segments, including passenger traffic on routes to high growth markets in Asia (up 5 per cent through the first nine months of the year).
Strong growth was also seen on routes to African destinations, with increases of around 20 per cent, although there was a continued downward trend on routes to the US.
Passenger figures improved during the third quarter, with a decline of 3.6 per cent compared with a drop of 9 per cent in the first six months of the year.
