At 4.3 million metric tonnes of loaded and unloaded international air freight, Hong Kong International Airport remains the most important cargo airport despite still lagging behind its 2019 volume by around 500,000 metric tonnes. As data from Airports Council International (ACI) shows, most airports with the highest volume of air freight have yet to reach pre-pandemic levels in this segment, with two notable exceptions.
Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, situated six miles south of the biggest city in Alaska, increased the volume of international freight handled by 500,000 metric tonnes, moving up two ranks to fourth place compared to 2019. Cargo going through Hamad International Airport in Qatar's capital Doha also increased by 160,000 metric tonnes in comparison to pre-pandemic figures.
Overall, an estimated 115 million metric tonnes of air freight was handled by the airports analyzed by the ACI in 2023, down five percent from 2019 levels. The top 20 cargo airports alone were responsible for 42 percent of the total loaded and unloaded freight, while Hong Kong, Memphis and Shanghai combined had a share of ten percent in the global air cargo volume.
