MIA total freight volume up by 8% in Q1 2022

Miami International Airport’s (MIA) total freight volume in the first quarter of 2022 increased by 8% year on year to 687,675 tons.

552,371 tons of this came from international traffic. International freight at MIA has grown 5.4% in the year to date, while domestic freight is up 20.5%.

MIA’s strong first quarter comes on the heels of the airport’s best year ever in several trade categories. In 2021, MIA set a new annual record of 2.7m tons of total freight and 2m metric tons of international freight handled, to strengthen the global gateway’s position as the busiest airport in the US and ninth in the world for international freight.

The airport’s imports and exports also had a combined commercial value of $67.5bn last year, up 28% over 2020 for a record increase of $14.8bn. MIA’s 2021 air trade amounted to 95% of Florida’s total air trade value and 41% of the state’s total air and sea trade values combined.

The airport’s leading import in weight last year continued to be flowers, at 327,881 tons valued at nearly $1.6bn, which represents a 39% increase in weight and a 34% in value. Flower imports are currently in full bloom at MIA, with the Association of Floral Importers of Florida projecting a 10% year on year increase in flower shipments before Mother’s Day on May 8 and MIA handling 89% of all flower imports to the US by air.

MIA’s largest import category in value was gold, jewellery, and gems, at $4.4bn in 2021, which was up 9% year on year. The largest export commodity in weight from MIA was vehicle parts and tires, which doubled in size from 18,703 tons in 2020 to 37,607 tons last year, while the leading export in value was aviation/spacecraft parts at $6.5bn, for an increase of 2% over the previous year.

The Florida hub handled 2.7m tons of freight in 2021, “shattering” its previous record of 2.3m tons achieved in 2020.