As a result, Hamad International Airport (DOH) in the capital city of Doha, saw a 46 percent rise in its total airfreight traffic (1.45 million metric tons), compared with the previous year - the sharpest one-year increase in overall cargo volume seen anywhere in the world in 2015.
Other times, it's an infrastructure upgrade that makes a noticeable difference. Chicago's O'Hare International (ORD), which has long plagued forwarders with congested access and cramped warehouse space, recently completed a major runway expansion and surface-street overhaul, and reported that its total cargo handle for 2015 was up 15.6 percent. Similarly, Jeddah's King Abdulaziz International Airport in Saudi Arabia is nearing completion of a major overhaul and expansion of its facilities, and reported a 45 percent boost in its cargo throughput to more than 716,000 metric tons in 2015.
These are a few of the results recently released from the annual World Airport Traffic Report (WATR), compiled by Airports Council International (ACI). Total cargo handled - including loaded and unloaded freight and mail - by airports worldwide in 2015 was up 2.4 percent over 2014, reaching about 105.5 million metric tons. International freight handled was up 2.2 percent to 63 million metric tons, accounting for a little more than 61 percent of the total volume.
