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Located in the heart of England, East Midlands Airport connects over four million passengers to more than 70 destinations each year, serving travellers from across the UK with strong road and public transport links that make it one of the most accessible airports in the country. But it is the airport’ s cargo operations that truly set it apart. As the UK’ s largest dedicated cargo airport, East Midlands plays a key role in global express freight, acting as a vital gateway between the UK and some of the world’ s most important markets while supporting the growth of high-value industries across the country. Its stellar reputation has been built on operational efficiency, exceptional connectivity and a consistent ability to attract major global operators, namely UPS and DHL. With an ambitious investment program currently underway, the airport is poised to become even more instrumental in driving UK trade forward. We learn more about the aspects this investment program addresses from Steve Griffiths, Managing Director at East Midlands Airport.
“ Last year, we celebrated 60 years of the airport’ s operations,” he begins.“ The airport started as an RAF facility and came into commercial operations in 1965, handling both passenger and cargo services. Six decades ago, we were seeing about 115,000 passengers and 358 tons of cargo pass through annually. Fast forward to today, and we see four million passengers and more than 400,000 tons of cargo a year. Located in the Golden Triangle, the airport has strong connectivity to the M1, linking the North, East, South and West, and serves a passenger catchment of eight million people within an hour of our doors. There are two strategic dimensions to East Midlands Airport: passenger operations by day and international logistics operations by night.”
That dual identity has positioned East Midlands Airport as one of the UK’ s most significant logistics hubs, and as of early
2026, the airport has been experiencing considerable growth. In particular, its cargo operations are very wellestablished. It is home to two major global integrators, DHL and UPS, both of which have invested in dedicated logistics hubs on site, connecting into their European and international networks. FedEx and Swissport also operate there, alongside a number of third-party logistics facility operators. Looking ahead,
◀ Steve Griffiths, Managing Director
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