Cargo visitors has elevated by greater than 18% at Stansted whereas passenger numbers slumped 73.2% 12 months on 12 months on the airport.
The newly-released figures for December present how freight is conserving the Uttlesford hub working through the coronavirus disaster.
Over the previous 12 months, Stansted was probably the most buoyant of Manchester Airports Group’s (MAG) three bases.
The rolling 12 months whole reveals there have been 7,543,779 travellers, down 73.2%, in comparison with 76% and 80.8% falls at Manchester and East Midlands respectively.
However in December particularly, Stansted had simply 198,291 passengers, down 90.1% on the identical interval in 2019.
Through the course of the pandemic, round 70% of MAG workers have been furloughed sooner or later and 380 have been made redundant at Stansted on account of the disaster for the aviation trade.
Freight progress has safeguarded different jobs – against this, Stansted dealt with 23,136 tonnes of cargo throughout December – up 18% 12 months on 12 months, eclipsing the 4,693 tonnes dealt with by Manchester however trailing a long way behind East Midlands – the nation’s busiest pure cargo airport with 46,320 tonnes.
The rise in freight flights at Stansted has sparked complaints on social media with posters on the Bishop’s Stortford Civic Federation’s Fb web page complaining that a rise in plane transporting prescription drugs and different imported items is conserving them awake.
The Authorities is at present reviewing the present evening restrictions for Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted, from 2022 to 2024, with a view to retaining the present caps of flights whereas banning the noisiest plane between 11.30pm and 6am.
The bounds at Stansted are 8,100 actions in the summertime and 5,600 within the winter, with additional decibel restrictions and quotas for noisier plane included in these totals.
Flight paths stay mounted into and out of the airport, however operation of the one runway relies on the climate as plane are required to take off and land into the wind for security causes.
A spokesman defined; “These are often called easterly operations and westerly operations and might change the plane tracks close by particular areas.
“Throughout westerly operations, plane will depart in direction of the west, more often than not Stansted’s wind comes from the west so this occurs on common 70% of the time. Throughout easterly operations, plane will depart to the east, which happens on common 30% of the time.
“The break up in working route varies from 12 months to 12 months and month to month. The period of time that the runway operates in a single route all is dependent upon the climate, it might change day by day however it isn’t unusual to be working in a single route for a number of weeks or months.”
He mentioned: “We have seen a giant drop in passenger flights because the begin of the pandemic, however we now have seen a lift in cargo which is especially right down to on-line buying and further flights bringing in medical provides. In December 2020 we averaged round 38 cargo flights a day, seven extra a day in comparison with December 2019.
“We’re open 24 hours a day, seven days every week however we’re restricted on the variety of evening flights by authorities. Our evening time restrictions comprise of decrease noise violation limits, motion limits and a Quota Depend system and these measures restrict the variety of operations at evening in addition to encouraging airways to function fashionable, quieter plane.”
Through the summer season, due to the pandemic, there was a 60% drop in evening flights general in comparison with 2019, attributable to the drop in passenger arrivals and departures though there was a slight improve in cargo visitors.
MAG group head of cargo, Stephen Harvey, mentioned: “Air cargo has undergone one thing of a quiet revolution, and one which might change the form of the sector ceaselessly.
“The challenges going through UK aviation are severe and effectively documented. Passenger numbers are in freefall and the trade continues to press arduous for modifications to the federal government’s dealing with of this disaster to guard jobs and help financial restoration.
“Nonetheless, behind the quiet terminals, ever-changing lists of ‘protected’ nations and self-isolation, lies an rising story of aviation progress which, partly, is a beneficiary of lowered passenger visitors mixed with modifications to client habits.”
Passenger plane additionally carry packages and parcels of their maintain, so the dramatic decline in providers has elevated demand for devoted air cargo specialists.
MAG’s East Midlands and Stansted airports are residence to the UK’s two largest devoted air cargo operations. Between them, they deal with over 600,000 tonnes of products annually that are flown to and from Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia, and the Center East.
At Stansted, FedEx has added three further weekly rotations to the USA to deal with demand. Against this, its terminal is now closed in a single day between 5pm and 5am till additional discover.
The spokesman mentioned: “In gentle of the Authorities’s worldwide journey ban, flights might be extraordinarily restricted, and we are going to stay open for these requiring important journey, repatriation flights, and to assist export and import key important items together with medical provides.”