East Midlands Airport (EMA / EGNX) is the premier UK airport for dedicated cargo aircraft traffic, and handles over 310,000 tonnes of flown cargo annually – and second only to London Heathrow in terms of all flown cargo. More than 22,000 dedicated freighter air transport movements operate through EMA each year, demonstrating its ‘freighter friendly’ status. The airport’s central UK location close to Nottingham, Derby and Leicester and only 35 miles from Birmingham, makes it the ideal consolidation and distribution gateway airport to the UK Midlands, and indeed the rest of the UK. A position further strengthened by its strategic, centralless than four hours truck driving time from the airport.
This central UK location avoids all the congestion in both the air and on the ground that is so widely associated with the South East airports. EMA is the main UK air hub for DHL, UPS and Aerologic and also serves as an important spoke in TNT’s UK network. It is also the primary air operations hub for the UK’s Royal Mail postal service. EMA has established itself as the UK’s airport of choice for ad-hoc cargo charters, handling more than 250 aircraft last year ranging in size from Cessna’s to the mighty Antonov 124’s and 225. EMA specialises in the handling of
outsized cargo and time sensitive consignments. Its passenger / cargo split is unique within the
UK in that over a third of commercial flights are operated by pure-cargo aircraft.
At 2,893m long and 60m wide EMA’s runway is capableof handling all aircraft types over long haul sectors, and with planning permission secured to extend the runway to 3,083m it’s future capability will more than meet the needs of existing and new cargo customers. EMA offers
full 24/7/365 operations and is not runway slot restricted, giving airlines the opportunity to operate exactly when
you want to.
The management at the airport are working very closely with numerous governmental and regional organisations such as UKTi, the East Midlands India Business Bureau (EMIBB), the East Midlands International Trade Association (EMITA) and the regional Local Economic Partnerships, with the ultimate goal to develop cargo and passenger routes to India, the USA, the Middle East and the Far East in particular. They also work very closely with various stakeholders in the cargo supply chain such as the British International Freight Association (BIFA) to encourage the utilisation of existing air cargo capacity.
The airport’s location close to one of the major entrepreneurial Indian business centres of the UK in Leicester means it is also a key business aim for the airport to support the successful growth of these businesses through the development of key cargo routes between the East Midlands and key global economies such as the Indian sub-continent. Airport fees & charges are specially designed for cargo aircraft and represent excellent value for money in terms of price, customer experience and the facilities on offer. This unique system charges on both arrival and departure to allow airlines to take advantage of significantly lower daytime charges if their goods are less time sensitive and don’t require night arrivals/departures. This proactive approach is something the EMA management is proud of and applies to towards all aspects of the air cargo business and strives to further improve its position as the UK’s most ‘freighter friendly’ airport. www.manchestersairportez.co.uk location at the heart of the UK motorway network, with
nearly 90 percent of the England and Wales landmass
