Cross border e-commerce helps deliver record growth at Amsterdam Aiport Schiphol

Cross border ecommerce has helped boost cargo tonnage at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol to record figures of 866,713 tonnes for the first half of 2017.

Europe’s third biggest airfreight hub saw cargo volumes grow 8.7 per cent to 866,713 tonnes between January and June 2017, up from 797,069 tonnes during the same period in 2016.

Volumes to the Far East grew to 27,706 tonnes in June 2017, up 15 per cent on June 2016 figures of 24,091 tonnes, with inbound Far East volumes reaching 26,511 tonnes in the same month, up 14.1 per cent on June 2016 figures of 23,230 tonnes.

Half year figures for the Far East were 154,866 tonnes for outbound, up 12.2 per cent on the same period in 2016, with inbound figures at 149,836 tonnes, up 8.3 percent on the same period in 2016.

Shanghai, China, Amsterdam Airport’s busiest cargo destination saw strong full freighter growth in the first six months of 2017.

Schiphol has over 100 flights per week connecting China to Europe, operated by nine airlines: KLM, Xiamen Airlines, China Southern Airlines, China Eastern Airlines, China Cargo Airlines, Air China Cargo, Airbridge Cargo, Cathay Pacific and Yangtze River Express.

Amsterdam is connected to 12 cities in China: Shanghai, Hong Kong, Beijing, Guangzhou, Xiamen, Hangzhou, Chengdu, Chongqing, Zhengzhou, Ningbo, Tianjin, and Xi’an, which includesix of the country’s 12 Cross Border e-commerce hubs.

As a solution to meeting the needs of growing volumes of smaller shipments related to Cross Border e-Commerce, Dutch Customs has teamed up with the Schiphol Cargo Community to launch a new simplified e-Commerce declaration called VENUE.

Venue authorised shippers are able to submit a simplified pre-declaration for articles with a value under EUR22 without the required HS code and supplementary declaration.

A dedicated Cross border e-Commerce Task Force at Amsterdam is supporting further initiatives, including schemes to increase visibility in the supply chain and boost the efficiency of ground handling processes at the hub. 

In addition, the recent launch of KLM Cargo’s new sorter will allow for faster handling of all postal and express shipments at Schiphol.

Schiphol welcomed an additional 153 full freighter flights in the first half of this year, bringing to 8,954 the total number of freighter Air Traffic Movements, and handled a record 148,765 tonnes in June, up 9.8 per cent on June 2016 figures of 135,528 tonnes.

Europe is Schiphol’s biggest market, with June 2017 inbound volumes at 11,217 tonnes, up 25 per cent on 2016, and June 2017 outbound figures at 11,450 tonnes, up 41.8 per cent on June 2016 figures.

Europe inbound figures for January to June 2017 were 60,320 tonnes, up 29.1 per cent on the same period in 2016, with Europe outbound figures at 61,641 tonnes from January to June 2017, up 39.2 per cent on the first half of 2016.

This strong growth is the result of Asian cargo, which transits Baku, Azerbaijan, and Moscow, Russia, to and from the Far East and Amsterdam.

A strong flower trade led to inbound Latin America volumes for January to June 2017 of 59,817 tonnes, up 31.4 per cent on the same period in 2016. Exports for January to June 2017 were 35,275 tonnes, a 6.3 per cent decrease on January to June 2016.

Latin American June 2017 tonnage was 8,722 for inbound, up 15.2 percent on the same month last year, with outbound tonnage at 6,535, up 6.1 percent on June 2016.

Imports from Africa for January to June 2017 were down 3.5 per cent year-on-year to 59,409 tonnes, and exports to the region were down 15.3 per cent to 24,902 tonnes for the same period.

North American imports a were up 1.7 per cent in June 2017 to 12,278 tonnes, suggesting a turnaround on the overall dip of 6.3 per cent year-on-year for January to June 2017 to 72,739 during the year to date overall.

Exports to the region continued to rise with an 0.8 per cent year-on-year increase to 14,208 tonnes in June 2017 compared to June 2016 figures of 14,099 tonnes, building on a 10.5 per cent increase from 74,556 tonnes in the first six months of 2016, to 82,379 tonnes for the January to June 2017 period.

Inbound Middle East figures for January to June 2017 were 43,557 tonnes, down 4.4 percent on 2016 figures for the same period, with outbound figures to the region for the first half of the year at 61,973 tonnes, up seven per cent on the same period in 2016, when 57,899 tonnes were recorded.