Freight expectations as airport's plans set to deliver £4bn boost

EAST Midlands Airport bosses say the huge growth in the lesser-known side of the Castle Donington operation has helped it to overcome an “identity crisis” and could create 20,000 new jobs.

- By OLIVER PRIDMORE

The significant growth in cargo is now connecting the site with major Chinese operators and destinations including Saudi Arabia.

Directors now say they want to expand its cargo operations by over 100,000 tonnes in the next five years alone.

"We are unique in the UK in the fact that we're the only airport absolutely dedicated to cargo and building those facilities out to support the industry and the reason for that is we sit right in the middle of the country," said Adam Andrews, recently appointed the new commercial director at the airport.

"What that means is as London becomes constrained and there's less space for cargo operators, effectively all London airports are full, we sit in a really good position to deal with the express freight demand down to London."

The cargo operation involves staff at East Midlands Airport handling around one million packages a night, with major operators including UPS and DHL using the site as a hub.

Planes begin landing from around 6pm until the very early hours of the morning, when passenger flights then resume.