Cargo keeps on flying out of Heathrow Airport passing the 150,000 tonne milestone for the first time in the airport’s history.

October was the 15th consecutive month of growth, and was up 9.2 per cent compared to October 2016, handling 154,492 tonnes.

On a year-to-date basis between January and October, Heathrow Airport handled 1.4 million tonnes, up 10.3 per cent compared to 2016.

The airport has handled 1.67 million tonnes on a rolling 12-month basis between November 2016 and October 2017, an increase of 9.4 per cent.

Heathrow Airport chief executive officer, John Holland-Kaye says: “Record passenger and cargo figures underline Heathrow’s position as a critical national asset.  We remain on track to expand Heathrow in a way that is affordable, financeable and which meets all our environmental obligations, securing Britain’s place as one of the world’s great trading nations in the early years of Brexit.”

Last month Heathrow unveiled its Blueprint for Sustainable Freight outlining practical steps the airport proposes to take to address the impact and number of freight vehicles around the airport whilst increasing cargo volumes.

The ten-point plan includes a freight consolidation tool to share capacity, a new cargo village, airside transhipment facilities and consolidation facilities to reduce traffic on local roads, among other measures.