Sheremetyevo International Airport handled more than 327,000 tons of mail in 2020, increasing its share in the Moscow air-cluster cargo market from 68% to 70%. Cargo comprised 299,100 tons, and mail comprised 28,300 tons.
These results were achieved despite a significant reduction in route network and a decrease in the number of passenger flights associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sheremetyevo’s main cargo operator, Moscow Cargo LLC, handled 222,271 tons of cargo and mail, more than 67% of the airport’s total cargo traffic.
During 2019, 70% of cargo turnover at Sheremetyevo Airport was on scheduled flights of passenger airlines and 30% on cargo airlines. In the months of the COVID-19 pandemic–the second through fourth quarters of 2020—that ratio reversed. More than 70% of the total cargo turnover was on cargo airlines and cargo-only flights.
Effective interaction with cargo airlines and the attraction of new air carriers operating cargo charter flights allowed Sheremetyevo Airport to offset the decrease in the volume of international passenger flights.
The total volume of cargo traffic through Sheremetyevo decreased by 13.7% in 2020 compared to 2019. The greater reduction in cargo turnover was due to a 13.4% decrease in the volume of international cargo, while the volume on domestic flights increased by 2.6% over 2019.
Transfer traffic in domestic flights decreased by 12.9%, while imports on domestic flights increased by 25.9%. The volume of export cargo of domestic airlines remained at the level of 2019.
Export volume on international flights at Sheremetyevo increased by 11.9% in 2020 compared to 2019. Cargo transfer on international flights decreased by 59.8% in 2020 compared to 2019, while the volume of imports on international flights increased by 15.3%. This is primarily due to the increase in the volume of medical goods delivered to Russia in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic, including personal protective equipment, medical equipment, medicines and disinfectants.
Moscow Cargo handled about 20,000 tons of international medical cargo, almost 70% more than in 2019.
Since November 2020, the Moscow Cargo terminal has been providing regular services for shipment of Sputnik V, the first Russian vaccine against coronavirus, within Russia and to Hungary, Serbia, Egypt and Argentina.
Extensive experience in handling pharmaceuticals and medicines, as well as the availability of modern cargo infrastructure and an extensive fleet of special apron equipment allow Moscow Cargo to guarantee careful handling of cargo and maintain the required temperature controls.
The main foreign destinations for Sheremetyevo Airport, accounting for more than 50% of the total cargo traffic in 2020, were China, Germany, the USA and the Netherlands. Main domestic destinations were the Far East cities of Vladivostok, Khabarovsk, Magadan, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, as well as Krasnoyarsk.
By year’s end, the largest volume of export and transit cargo was recorded for Frankfurt (FRA), Shanghai (PVG), Amsterdam (AMS) and Beijing (PEK), as well as domestic Far Eastern destinations: Vladivostok (VVO), Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky (PKC) and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk (UUS). In the third quarter, the largest volume of import and transit cargo was recorded for Shanghai (PVG), Beijing (PEK), Frankfurt (FRA), Hong Kong (HKG) and Chicago (ORD).
