Air freight – Top 20 Cargo Hubs revealed


There was no change among the world’s top five cargo gateways in 2018 but there was movement further down the table, reported Airports Council International.

Hong Kong International Airport, Memphis International, Shanghai Pudong, Incheon and Ted Stevens Anchorage all held their positions from the previous year as the top five cargo hubs.

Los Angeles jumped three places from 13th to 10th this year and Doha International advanced five places from 16th, last year, to 11th.

In total, the world’s airports accommodated 122.7m tonnes of cargo – a 1.4% increase.

Top 20 cargo hubs (Source: Airports Council International)

Rank 2018 Rank 2017 Airport City / Country or Area / Code Cargo (metric tonnes) – loaded and unloaded % change
1 1 Hong Kong, HK (HKG) 5,121,029 1.5
2 2 Memphis TN, US (MEM) 4,470,196 3.1
3 3 Shanghai, CN (PVG) 3,768,573 -1.5
4 4 Incheon, KR (ICN) 2,952,123 1.0
5 5 Anchorage AK, US (ANC) 2,806,743 3.5
6 6 Dubai, AE (DXB) 2,641,383 -0.5
7 7 Louisville KY, US (SDF) 2,623,019 0.8
8 9 Taipei, Chinese Taipei (TPE) 2,322,823 2.4
9 8 Tokyo, JP (NRT) 2,261,008 -3.2
10 13 Los Angeles CA, US (LAX) 2,209,850 2.4
11 16 Doha, QA (DOH) 2,198,308 8.8
12 12 Singapore, SG (SIN) 2,195,000 1.4
13 11 Frankfurt, DE (FRA) 2,176,387 -0.8
14 10 Paris, FR (CDG) 2,156,327 -1.8
15 14 Miami FL, US (MIA) 2,129,658 2.8
16 15 Beijing, CN (PEK) 2,074,005 2.2
17 18 Guangzhou, CN (CAN) 1,890,816 6.2
18 20 Chicago IL, US (ORD) 1,807,091 5.0
19 17 London, GB (LHR) 1,771,342 -1.3
20 19 Amsterdam, NL (AMS) 1,737,984 -2.7

Source: Air Cargo News