Changi and Dubai International Airport Throughput Performance

Running head: PERFORMANCE IN CARGO THROUPUT AT CHANGI AND DUBAI
INTERNATIONAL AIRPORTS
CARGO OUTPUT AT CHANGI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT AND DUBAI
INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
CHANGI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT CARGO THROUGHPUT PERFORMANCE

CHANGI AND DUBAI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT THROUGHPUT
PERFORMANCE 2
For six years, Singapore’s Changi International airport has been ranked the number one
airport worldwide by Skytax (Jacobs, 2018). CIA has the second most valuable airport brand in
the world, valued at $754 (Pillai, 2019). Singapore ships large volumes of cargo, which indicates
the strength of its export economy. The major cargo that CIA handles are perishables,
pharmaceuticals, and e-commerce cargo. 24 cargo airlines operate at CIA, with more than 300
weekly scheduled flights from Singapore to 45 cities in 25 countries. In 2016, Changi
International Airport experienced an increase in cargo throughput by 6.3%, which is 1.97 million
tons. The airport had a cargo throughput of 177,360 tons in the month of December, which is an
8.4% increase from the first half of the year (Fenema, 2016). In 2016, the top five country
markets for airfreight were U. S, India, China, Australia and Hong Kong’ (Fenema, 2016). Cargo
throughput grew by 7.9% in 2017, which is 2.13 million tons, thereby crossing the 2-million
mark. In December 2017, CIA handled 188,740 tons of airfreight throughput, which is 64%
[STAT times, 2018]. Cargo throughput increased by 1.4% in 2018, reaching 2.15 million tons,
which decreased by 3.8% in December that year (Yi, 2019). CIA handled 2.01 million tons of
cargo in 2019, which is a decrease by 6.5% from 2018 (Yi, 2019). The data above is interpreted
in a chart in appendix I.
DUBAI INTERNATIONAL CARGO (DXB) THROUGHPUT PERFORMANCE
Dubai International Airport is the world’s busiest hub for long distance flights, with
emirates operating from there (Kamel, 2019). DXB plays a major role to the economy of Dubai.
DXB won for four consecutive years the Cargo Hub of the year at the Supply Chain and
Transport Awards (SCATA). The airport opened a cargo mega terminal in 2008, which has a
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capacity of 1.2 million tons. The following year, 2009, DXB handled cargo volume of 1.9
million tons.
A brief data presentation of DXB cargo throughput performance from 2013-2019
Year Volume in tons
2019 2,486,830
2017 2,510,557
2016 2,418,256
2015 2,357,567
2014 2,077,445
2013 2,450,533
In 2018, volume of cargo handled by DXB was 2.5 million tons, which is a fall by 4.8%.
In 2019, DXB handled 659,167 tons of cargo in the fourth quarter. Annually, the total cargo
volume was 2,514,918 tons (Hammond, 2019). In the third quarter of 2019, cargo throughput
handled at DXB fell by 5.9% to 636,575 tons. During the 9 months of 2019, freight volumes also
reduced by 4.1 percent to 1.9 million tons. In the fourth quarter of 2019, DXB handled a cargo
throughput of 659, 167 tons, which is a fall from the fourth quarter of 2018 (Nagraj, 2018). The
above data is interpreted in a chart in appendix II
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ECONOMIC CYCLE
The economic cycle, also called the business cycle is the rise and fall of economic growth
that occurs naturally in an economy over time (Amadeo, 2020). It is measured by the fluctuation
(rise and fall) in the Gross Domestic Product (Kenton, 2019). The stages of economic cycle are;
1. Expansion
During this stage, there is an increase in employment, incomes, production and sales.
There is a steady flow of money supply in the economy, i.e. the economy is booming (Kenton,
2019).
2. Peak
At this stage, the growth rate of a business is at its maximum. Economic factors such as
production, profit, sales and employment are high but do not increase further [Nitisha, 2019].
3. Recession
This a stage of contraction, where unemployment rises, production slows down, sales
slowdown, due to decrease of demand [Kenton, W, 2019].
4. Depression
There is a continued drop in economic growth, where there is a rise in unemployment and
a fall in production Kenton, W, 2019].
5. Trough
During this stage, The economic activities of a business decline below the normal
(Amadeo, 2020).
6. Recovery
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In this stage, the business starts to experience economic growth again. Low prices lead to
an increase in demand, and the business starts to boom again (Kenton, 2019).
Economic cycle at Changi International Airport
I agree that air freight handled at CIA is correlated with economic cycle. This can be
accounted for, for example, in the year 2016, as indicated by the data below;
Month Volume of cargo in tons
December 97,505
November 94,516
October 96,388
September 90,914
August 89,609
July 89,264
June 89,695
May 88,582
April 90,487
March 94,346
February 75,421
January 87,273
The data above is interpreted in a chart in appendix III, showing the fluctuations in cargo
throughputs throughout the year 2016. In 2012, CIA put in place $15 million to the air cargo
sector for the financial year, which started from first April, but the continued decline of air cargo,
which was reported by IATA to be at 0.7% in 2011 was a hit. This led to CIA revising its growth
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forecast for 2012 from 5.2% t0 3.9% growth. It also revised its annual growth rate until 2015
from 4.9% to 4.4%. In correlation to the economic cycle, this was a trough stage. Before 2015,
CIA’s cargo business was falling, but since 2015, it has been reviving. CIA experienced a 6.3%
growth in 2016, then 7.9% growth I 2017, When the airport passed the 2 million tonnes mark for
the first time.
Economic cycle at DXB
I agree that air freight at DBX correlates with economic cycles. This is illustrated in the
data below;
Year Volume in tons
2019 2,486,830
2017 2,510,557
2016 2,418,256
2015 2,357,567
2014 2,077,445
2013 2,450,533
This data is interpreted in a chart in appendix I, which shows the fluctuations in cargo throughput
from 2013-2019.
References
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Morrell, P.S., & Klein, T. (2018). Moving boxes by air: the economics of international air cargo.
Routledge.
Doganis, R. (20002). Flying off course: The economics of international airlines. Psychology
Press.
Janic, M. (2015). An investigation of the possible effects of some innovative solutions for
increasing the runway system capacity of Dubai International Airport (DXB). Journal of
Airport Management.
Maktoum, A. (2008). Dubai Airports: A new chapter in world of aviation. International air
Review.
Mayer, R. (2016). Airport classification based on cargo characteristics. Journal of transport
Geography. Elsevier.
Friese, F. (2007). Airports International: Dubai-The Ultimate Hub. Trid.trb.org.
Chin, A., & Tongzon, J. (1998). Competitiveness of the Singapore Economy. Singapore
University Press.
Park, Y. (2003). An analysis for the competitive strength of Asian major airports. Journal of air
transport management. Elsevier.
APPENDIX
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Appendix I
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Appendix II
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0
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DXB cargo throughput statistics 2013-2019
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Appendix III
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0
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