The Telegraph revealed today that Ted Stevens Anchorage Airport (ANC), in Alaska's largest city, emerged as the world's single busiest airport in terms of aircraft operations during this past week of April 27, 2020.
This rather remote outpost in America's 49th state hasn't risen in the ranks due to increased passenger movements, but because, amid the Coronavirus pandemic, most of the planes that are still flying are transporting goods.
Though passenger air-travel demand has dwindled down to virtually nil, air cargo is among the few sectors that haven't been significantly impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. According to the airport's Twitter profile, ANC is the self-proclaimed "Center of the Air Cargo World", being positioned within under nine-and-a-half hours by air from 90 percent of the so-called "industrial world".
Even prior to the pandemic, ANC ranked as the world's busiest seaplane hub and is consistently listed among the world's top five hubs for cargo flights, with around 2.7 million tons of cargo landed at its airfield annually. The top routes going in and out of Anchorage-nestled into the coast on the Gulf of Alaska-include Los Angeles, Chicago and Hong Kong, which usually takes the title of world's busiest air cargo center.
"On Saturday, ANC was the world's busiest airport for aircraft operations," ANC wrote in a tweet. "This points to how significantly the global aviation system has changed and highlights the significance of our role in the global economy and fight against the COVID-19 pandemic."
CEO of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Alexandre de Juniac, reportedly said earlier this week that cargo is the "bright spot for the industry because it is the only part that is operating and earning revenue at any scale".
Based on data from FlightRadar24.com, which monitors real-time global air traffic, The Telegraph reported that many of the world's remaining flights belong to freight operators like FedEx, UPS and DHL, or the cargo divisions of such airlines as Qatar and Emirates.
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