London Heathrow Freight Grows in July

A halting expansion in cargo at London Heathrow Airport accelerated in July as freight tonnage grew 5.7 percent on a month-to-month basis, giving the European gateway its busiest month this year for cargo.

Heathrow’s cargo tonnage fell 11.9 percent from the same month a year ago, the smallest year-over-year decline the airport has recorded so far in 2009.

The airport’s freight business was down 16.1 percent in the first seven months of the year compared to the same period a year ago, far worse than the 3 percent decline in passenger traffic Heathrow has seen in the same period.

But the 109,254 metric tons of freight the airport handled in July was the most Heathrow has seen this year and marked the third straight month-to-month increase in the business for the airport.