Liege Airport, the seventh largest cargo airport in Europe, reported a 10% decrease in cargo traffic during January, not long after reporting a record year in 2011.
 

In the first month of 2012, just over 48,000 tonnes of freight were transported through Liege Airport compared with the 53,600 tonnes recorded in January 2011: representing a decline of 9.9%.
 

According to the gateway, which is Belgium’s largest cargo airport, the results demonstrate how the global economic crisis is affecting air cargo traffic in general.
 

The news comes a month after Liege Airport reported a record year for cargo in 2011, handling nearly 674,500 tonnes of goods over the year – up 5.47% on 2010.
 

Not only did the gateway report a new record for the transport of goods but it also registered a growth in passenger numbers over the year.
 

During December last year the gateway also reported a growth of 6.68% on the same period a year earlier, handling 55,800 tonnes of cargo.
 

At the time, Luc Partoune, general director at Liege Airport, said: “While international air transport of goods decreased by 4% on average in the six months that followed the financial crisis, our airport continues to develop, with 5% growth in traffic for the year.
 

“The operators present on site are expanding their business activities. This is undeniably a strong performance in a gloomy economic context. And as regards passengers, the strategic collaboration with tourist operators is beginning to yield results.”
 

In 2012, more than €11 million of investments have been planned to improve the range of cargo services available at the gateway, and Partoune said commercial prospects were good.