Gatwick's cargo volume plunges 12pc in February to 5,628 ton

LONDON's Gatwick Airport saw cargo volumes shrink year on year by 12.2 per cent to 5,628 tonnes in February, following a decline of 9.7 per cent to 5,231 tonnes in January.

On a 12 month basis, from March 2015 to February 2016 cargo volumes decreased by 18.1 per cent to 72,063 tonnes.

This year the airport is expected to attract 20 new long haul routes, including British Airways to Lima in Peru and San Jose in Costa Rica. Cathay Pacific will start services from Hong Kong, and Norwegian will increase US connectivity to Boston and Oakland.

The other services include a number of Canadian locations served by West Jet, along with Air Canada flying to Toronto.

Thomas Cook will increase US and Cuban services, with Thomson increasing connectivity to Costa Rica, Cuba and Sri Lanka. Fly Salone will start Gatwick - Freetown flights and Air Via will start flying to Lagos in Nigeria, reported London area Air Cargo Week.

Gatwick Airport chief executive officer, Stewart Wingate, said: "With this growth and momentum behind us, it is more important than ever that Gatwick gets the green light so it can get on and start building a second runway."