Cargo volumes at Frankfurt Airport have risen 1.3 per cent in January with eastbound traffic declining but traffic heading west performing well.

The German airport handled 170,700 tonnes of air cargo in January, with airfreight up slightly by 0.5 per cent to 162,100 tonnes and airmail hitting its highest peak for 13 years, with 18.1 per cent growth to 8,600 tonnes.

Fraport, the airport operator says that Chinese New Year festivities being in February will have a positive effect, though losing a Sunday will almost completely negate this positivity.

Tonnage heading west to the Americas performed well in January, with North America increasing 6.3 per cent and strong growth in Mexico and Brazil contributed to Latin America rising 28.3 per cent.

Traffic heading east struggled, with cargo heading via Moscow, Saudi Arabia and Hong Kong declining, which 10.6 per cent growth in Qatar, 1.7 per cent from China and 34.3 per cent from Vietnam could not compensate for.

Africa grew 5.8 per cent helped by South Africa proving strong, though cargo to and from Kenya declined.