East Midlands Airport - the only UK airport to be shortlisted for cargo award

East Midlands Airport has been shortlisted for an international cargo award amongst some of the world's biggest cargo airports.

EMA is the only airport in UK to make the list for the Air Cargo News’ annual awards.

It has the UK’s largest dedicated cargo aircraft operation - planes which carry just freight and no passengers.

The airport handles over 365,000 tonnes of goods a year and is second only to London Heathrow for the total volume of cargo handled at a UK airport.

In 2019, many UK airports reported a fall in cargo volumes but EMA saw an increase by 2.28% compared to January last year.

At its busiest, over 1 million individual parcels are handled at EMA each night including goods.

Many of the goods coming from overseas will be flown into the UK through EMA.

Through EMA, and its connections to air cargo hubs in Europe and the USA, UK businesses export to countries all over the world.

£10bn worth of goods are imported and exported to and from non-EU countries through EMA each year.

EMA has the UK’s largest dedicated cargo aircraft operation. Credit: ITV Central

Other airports that have been shortlisted in the Freighter Hub of the Year category include; Changi Airport Group, Dubai World Central, Hong Kong International Airport, Liege Airport (Belgium).

Air Cargo News winners are honoured at an awards ceremony on 26 April 2019.