The Yorkshire & Humberside Freight Council of the Freight Transport Association wants planners to consider the opportunities air freight facilities at Robin Hood Airport, Doncaster, could create for the region. The development of air freight could give the region a significant economic boost by providing fast transit of urgent goods around the world.
Robin Hood airport has one of the longest runways in the country and therefore the opportunity exists to accommodate freight-only planes as well as moving freight in bellyholds of passenger aircraft.
However, the majority of UK air freight movements, to and from airports, are generally made by road in a truck and this has meant that a substantial proportion of cargo being is currently shipped in and out of airports in the South-east or Manchester because of the lack of facilities in other parts of the country.
Malcolm Bingham, Yorkshire and Humberside Regional Policy manager for the Freight Transport Association, says: “The future development of the airport’s air freight facilities needs to be carefully balanced in bringing economic advantages, and possible environmental advantages, if air freight can be shipped directly from the region instead of being taken first by road to Manchester, Heathrow or Gatwick.”
