02 December 2011
As German air carrier Lufthansa Cargo moves to cut capacity by a third, trade between South Florida and Europe’s largest economy is booming.
“Lufthansa brings cargo into MIA in the belly of passenger aircraft on its scheduled flights to [and] from Frankfurt and Düsseldorf,” said airport spokesperson Greg Chin. “From January to October 2011, Lufthansa carried 8,338 tons of freight, an increase of 13.9 percent over the same period in 2010.”
In 2010 two-way trade between the airport and all of Germany was worth $870.6 million, he added. That same year trade between Germany and Miami Customs district, which stretches from Port St. Lucie to the Keys, was worth a record $1.39 billion, according to a WorldCity analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data. Trade between the Miami Customs district and Germany through September at $1.37 billion nearly eclipses last year’s total.
Exports to Germany so far this year are worth $644.15 million while imports come in at $723.69 million. The $79.55 million deficit is the lowest on record since at least 2000, although there was a $63.73 million trade surplus between the two in 2008.
The cargo wing of the German airline said it could cut capacity by up to 30 percent in 2012, according to a report in the Journal of Commerce. It does so regularly, between mid-December and mid-January, in preparation for the holidays. At the same time, however, the airline’s cargo traffic this year is about five percent below expectations and it’s “bracing for zero growth… through the first quarter of 2012,” the report said.
Top exports from South Florida to Germany so far this year include:
- Scraps of precious metal, worth $116.8 billion.
- Aircraft, worth $147.37 billion.
- Cars worth, $58.93 billion.
- Orthopedic appliances, worth $21.8 million.
- X-ray apparatus, worth $21.04 million.
The region’s top imports from Europe’s largest economy are as follows:
- Aircraft engines and parts, worth $207.16 million.
- Imports of returned exports, worth $73.79 million.
- Horses, worth $5.29 million.
- Medical technology, worth $3.66 million.
- Centrifuges and filters, worth $6.36 million.
At the same time Miami International Airport is also one of five U.S. cities to be serviced by one of its new Airbus A380 aircraft, the largest passenger plane in the world. The craft, which carries belly cargo, flies daily between Miami and Frankfurt and carries up to 10,000 passengers weekly.