Zaragoza airport became the second busiest airport in Spain for cargo operations, passing BCN airport and a the government is planning to invest another 26 million euros to increase even more the capacity.
The link is in Spanish some important facts are, new cargo terminal, 3 more parking spaces for up to B748 size, resurface the taxiway and apron areas.
Inditex is the main customer for cargo airlines in Zaragoza, recently I read that ET cargo is planning to add ZAZ-MIA sector, currently some big airlines operate ZAZ, airlines like Saudia Cargo, Emirates Skycargo, Qatar Airways Cargo, Ethiopian cargo, Turkish Cargo, Cargolux, Air China Cargo, Korean Air Cargo, AirBridge cargo, Atlas Air

https://www.heraldo.es/noticias/aragon/ ... 5-300.html

Cargo stats. http://www.aena.es/csee/Satellite?pagen ... ticas/Home

Sep2018.
Madrid- 43.395.000kgs
Zaragoza- 16.908.000kgs
Barcelona- 14.818.000kgs
Vitoria- 4.793.000kgs

Zaragoza finished 2017 with 142.185 tonns of cargo a 29% increase, 2016 also had 29% increase.

It makes a lot of sense that ZAZ is seeing cargo increases - sitting at the centre of a triangle between MAD, BCN and BIO it can cater to all these markets.

Zara clothing stores, the 4th largest in the world has their main distribution and logistics set up out of Zaragoza. Plays a massive massive role in this airport being so busy. They also change up their clothing every 2-3 weeks, so there is constant flow globally (a waste if you ask me) anyway... at any given time you will see EK, QR, BA (whatever cargo carrier wears their branding) and many others flying ZAZ to MEX and every other place around the globe.

PlymSpotter wrote:

It makes a lot of sense that ZAZ is seeing cargo increases - sitting at the centre of a triangle between MAD, BCN and BIO it can cater to all these markets.

That's one of the main advantage of the airport, also the Inditex and Caladero logistic center next to the airport, I suspect the Halifax link is for fish to Zaragoza and then by road to Spanish cities and maybe even south of France. I remember time ago MK airlines used to fly to ZAZ with Fish and lobster from Halifax and then from Entebbe with fish also, but that was many years ago. Sadly MK1602 B747 crash in Halifax was a flight to Zaragoza.

LAXLHR wrote:

Zara clothing stores, the 4th largest in the world has their main distribution and logistics set up out of Zaragoza. Plays a massive massive role in this airport being so busy. They also change up their clothing every 2-3 weeks, so there is constant flow globally (a waste if you ask me) anyway... at any given time you will see EK, QR, BA (whatever cargo carrier wears their branding) and many others flying ZAZ to MEX and every other place around the globe.

I don't think it's a waste, actually it is a multimillionaire business and to keep up with seasons and new items they have to do this way.

This expansion would require that Inditex remains there as it drives the cargo at ZAZ.

Yes, ZAZ has a great location. It's a pity it doesn't have direct a passanger connection to the HSR network. Also rail cargo as percentage of total is very small in Spain as a whole. Lack of foresight by the authorities.

so Inditex is the main customer in ZAZ, but I'm wondering whether it isn't too expensive to send the shipments with airfreight instead of trucks or ships? AFAIK, garments aren't as lucrative as for example spare parts for the automotive industry (I might be wrong...) due to light weight and high volume.

migair54 wrote:

LAXLHR wrote:

(...) They also change up their clothing every 2-3 weeks, so there is constant flow globally (a waste if you ask me) (...).

I don't think it's a waste, actually it is a multimillionaire business and to keep up with seasons and new items they have to do this way.

The fashion industry actually has a huge waste problem.

https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable ... ay-culture

"Schemes aim to tackle fashion’s huge waste problem but critics say they are a token gesture and could encourage ‘guilt free’ consumption."

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-44968561

"But environmental activists say fashion's waste problem is much bigger than just unsold stock. They blame 'fast fashion' - a term describing our high rate of fashion consumption fuelled by the quantity of new clothes that go on sale."

"Research collated by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation suggests that global clothing production has doubled in the past 15 years, with garments on average being worn much less and discarded quicker than ever before."

There is 0 business case for a HSR station at ZAZ.

ZAZ is a small airport https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zaragoza_Airport which had 438,035 PAX in 2017. That for a city that has 664,938 residents. From my understanding, at least Ryanair, Volotea and Wizzair are subsidised by whether the city council / province / regional government. It would be smarter for them to subsidise Air France or Lufthansa to have a connection to a hub. Zaragoza must be one of the largest cities in Europe without a single connection to a major hub (on a connecting carrier) from its airport.

stylo777 wrote:

so Inditex is the main customer in ZAZ, but I'm wondering whether it isn't too expensive to send the shipments with airfreight instead of trucks or ships? AFAIK, garments aren't as lucrative as for example spare parts for the automotive industry (I might be wrong...) due to light weight and high volume.

It is called "fast fashion" for a reason. This people would see what's trendy in whatever Fashion Week, in Instagram or in some hipster neighbourhood in Tokyo, they would carbon-copy it, produce it and sell it. If those clothes are sent by ships... it is already "old fashion" whenever they arrive to their stores in Mexico City or Los Angeles.

stylo777 wrote:

so Inditex is the main customer in ZAZ, but I'm wondering whether it isn't too expensive to send the shipments with airfreight instead of trucks or ships? AFAIK, garments aren't as lucrative as for example spare parts for the automotive industry (I might be wrong...) due to light weight and high volume.

I think the deliveries to Europe are by road however to the USA, Mexico, Korea, China, Japan could take weeks before the shops can get the clothes.

SCQ83 wrote:

There is 0 business case for a HSR station at ZAZ.

Totally agree, no case at all, actually from ZAZ to the city is like 15-20 by bus or taxi, is quite close. And the HSR in Zaragoza is the one going to Barcelona and Madrid, so I don't see many pax going to Zaragoza from MAD or BCN.

aemoreira1981 wrote:

This expansion would require that Inditex remains there as it drives the cargo at ZAZ.

I don't think Inditex will go anywhere, they spend few millions building the logistics center in Zaragoza, they could have built it any other place but they choose ZAZ, By the way I think BCN will increase in the future because Amazon is building a warehouse in BCN area, so I am pretty sure that will add to BCN cargo in the future, maybe we could see some transatlantic cargo flight by PrimeAir.
http://www.investinspain.org/invest/en/ ... EN_US.html

I'm not sure BCN will see PrimeAir services - does the 767-300BCF even have the range to make it with a viable payload? Whether there is any increase in cargo depends on the role the warehouse will play.

Zara is only one of the many brands Inditex has. See link. http://www.inditex.com

At this time, Inditex is going to continue expand, which would drive even more cargo flow into and out of ZAZ.

Zara is only one of the many brands Inditex has. See link. http://www.inditex.com

At this time, Inditex is going to continue expand, which would drive even more cargo flow into and out of ZAZ.

Zara is only one of the many brands Inditex has. See link. http://www.inditex.com

At this time, Inditex is going to continue expand, which would drive even more cargo flow into and out of ZAZ.

Zara is only one of the many brands Inditex has. See link. http://www.inditex.com

At this time, Inditex is going to continue expand, which would drive even more cargo flow into and out of ZAZ.

PlymSpotter wrote:

I'm not sure BCN will see PrimeAir services - does the 767-300BCF even have the range to make it with a viable payload? Whether there is any increase in cargo depends on the role the warehouse will play.

I think the B767 has the range to do it, The cargo amazon moves is more volume than weight so I think we could see maybe a cargo plane doing USA-MAD-BCN-USA or something similar.

Inditex has also other logistic platforms in Spain.

https://www.inditex.com/how-we-do-busin ... /logistics

For instance there is a major platform in Meco, Madrid not far from MAD airport.

Inditex brands are HQed either in A Coruña area (Zara, Zara Home, Pull & Bear), Barcelona (Massimo Dutti, Bershka, Stradivarius, Oysho, Lefties) or Alicante (Tempe - shoes and accessories -). So MAD, SCQ, BCN and ALC also have Inditex cargo, but to a lesser extent that ZAZ.