Wondering about the 10 busiest cargo airports in the world? Ever since Wilbur and Orville Wright invented the airplane over a century ago, man has been obsessed with flying. From barely being able to lift a person a few feet in the air to hosting tonnes of cargo, thousands of miles away, planes have definitely come a long way. They have been used for transporting cargo, transporting passengers and in wars to bomb targets.
Once the size of the planes started increasing and they needed longer runways to take off from, airports came into being. Today, planes are the fastest and hence, the primary mode for the transportation of cargo from one place to another, especially where large distances are concerned in order to accommodate free trade in the world.
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Airports have been built in order to facilitate not just passengers, as can be evidenced in the 10 busiest airports by international passenger traffic, but to facilitate the loading and unloading of cargo as well. The following airports are considered to be the 10 busiest cargo airports in the world currently, according to statistics released by the Airport Council International, according to total metric tonnes of cargo loaded and unloaded. It comes as no surprise that there are three airports located in the United States of America and it is even less surprising to know that there are three airports belonging to China on this list as well.
10. Taoyuan International Airport, Taiwan
Total cargo loaded and unloaded annually: 2,008,727 metric tonnes
Due to its location, the Taoyuan International Airport is one of the busiest airports in the world, serving as a tran-shipment center in addition to serving millions of passengers each year.
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9. Frankfurt Airport, Germany
Total cargo loaded and unloaded annually: 2,132,132 metric tonnes
This airport made the top 10 list for busiest airports according to international travel as well, which shows that it has been built to suit both purposes. In fact, it is the busiest cargo airport in the continent of Europe.
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8. Narita International Airport, Japan
Total cargo loaded and unloaded annually: 2,132,377 metric tonnes
This airport single handedly deals with most of the international traffic going to and from Japan. The airport facilitates nearly 50% of the country’s international passengers while also handling over 60% of the international cargo as well.
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7. Louisville International Airport, United States of America
Total cargo loaded and unloaded annually: 2,293,134 metric tonnes
The third busiest cargo airport in the United States, the reason Lousville International Airport handles so much cargo is mainly due to the fact that the worldwide hub of the international delivery service, UPS, known as Worldport, is located in this airport.
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6. Dubai International Airport, United Arab Emirates
Total cargo loaded and unloaded annually: 2,367,574 metric tonnes
The Dubai International Airport was built with one purpose in mind; to facilitate the transition of Dubai into a tourist spot. And the airport, with the largest terminal in the world, has worked wonders in this regard. In addition, it also the sixth busiest cargo airport in the world.
5. Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, United States of America
Total cargo loaded and unloaded annually: 2,482,153 metric tonnes
The Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport is a major hub for both UPS and FedEx, accounting for most of the cargo that passes through the airport.
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4. Incheon International Airport, South Korea
Total cargo loaded and unloaded annually: 2,557,680 metric tonnes
Another airport that made it to both the busies cargo airports in the world and the busiest airports in the world according to international passengers, this airports handles over 2.5 million metric tonnes annually.
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3. Shanghai Pudong International Airport, China
Total cargo loaded and unloaded annually: 3,181,635 metric tonnes
Shanghai’s premier airport, the Pudong International Airport manages to handle over 3 million metric tonnes of cargo annually. It also hosts the biggest express hub in Asia, operated by DHL, which along with UPS account for most of the cargo processed in the airport.
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2. Memphis International Airport, United States of America
Total cargo loaded and unloaded annually: 4,258,530 metric tonnes
The third US airport on this list, the Memphis International Airport hosts the global hub of FedEx, and was the busiest cargo airport in the world for 7 straight years until 2010, when it fell to second.
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1. Hong Kong International Airport, China
Total cargo loaded and unloaded annually: 4,411,193 metric tonnes
China’s third airport on this list is actually the busiest cargo airport in the world, and hosts and Asia Pacific cargo hub for UPS. It is also one of the busiest airports in the world according to international passenger traffic as well.
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