London Stansted Airport has added another honour to its trophy cabinet after picking up an ‘Air Cargo Award of Excellence’.

The Air Cargo World Excellence Awards acknowledge achievements in air cargo and is based on a survey of airline and industry professionals.  Stansted received top marks for performance, value and facilities in the Europe category of airports handling up to 399,999 tonnes of freight a year.

Mark Souter, Stansted Airport’s Head of Airline Relations, said:

“We’re extremely proud to receive the ‘Air Cargo Award of Excellence’, especially as it’s voted for by our airlines and industry partners. Stansted has a worldwide reputation as an extremely efficient cargo hub and offers excellent operational capacity, airfield and infrastructure reliability, and easy access to the road network. Together with the ability to operate around the clock, we provide businesses with access to multiple markets across the globe adding significantly to the UK’s appeal as a place to locate and invest.”

Stansted is one of the largest freight hubs in the UK and home to an international cargo operation that transports over 200,000 tonnes of goods to destinations worldwide, including the USA and Far East. A testimony  to the airport’s status as a major international cargo facility is the growing number of industry leaders that have already chosen to operate from the airport – Cargolux, Asiana, British Airways World Cargo, Global Supply Systems, Fed EX, Martinair, Royal Mail, Panalpina, Titan, TNT and UPS.

In 2012, British Airways World Cargo introduced three new Boeing 747-8 freighters into service at Stansted. These superjumbos are 30% quieter and produce 16% less emissions than the Boeing 747-400 aircraft type they replaced. Stansted’s largest freight operator FedEx also strengthened their commitment to the environment and efforts to reduce its carbon footprint by upgrading its fleet with a Boeing 777 freighter in 2011. The jet, which operates on the Stansted to Memphis route, brings significant environmental benefits including lower noise levels and reduced emissions compared to the three engine MD-11 it replaced.