March 31--Memphis narrowly missed edging Hong Kong as the world's busiest cargo airport in 2013 for the second straight year.
Memphis International Airport officials had hoped that modest increases in cargo volume, coupled with slower growth in Asia, would help the city regain the title.
But preliminary figures from Airports Council International on Monday showed Hong Kong handling about 24,000 more metric tons of cargo than Memphis last year. Memphis' 4,137,801 metric tons was up 3 percent from 2012, and Hong Kong's 4,161,718 metric tons was up 2.5 percent.
Air cargo volume worldwide was flat for the third straight year, inching up .7 percent overall and declining at a third of the world's top 30 busiest cargo airports, ACI said.
The results underscore the importance of Memphis being at the center of FedEx Express's global network, Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority chairman Jack Sammons said.
"We're very pleased with the fact that cargo numbers for FedEx continue to grow," Sammons said. "They're not growing at the clip they were growing in the 1980s, but positive growth is warmly welcomed and appreciated by the airport authority."
Rounding out the top five cargo airports were Shanghai at No. 3, followed by Incheon, South Korea and Dubai. ACI said the Middle East was a bright spot, growing volume by 5.1 percent.
"The airport authority has made it abundantly clear to FedEx that we want to do all in our power to facilitate their continued growth for years to come," Sammons added.
ACI said Atlanta remained the world's busiest passenger airport, followed by Beijing, London-Heathrow, Tokyo-Haneda, Chicago-O'Hare and Los Angeles. The top six didn't change but Beijing "continues to close the gap," ACI said.
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