London's Heathrow Airport showed its strongest cargo growth in three-and-a-half years in December as freight tonnage surged 16.9 percent, a sign the key gateway remains a strong force in air freight.

Airport manager BAA said Heathrow handled 112,298 tonnes of cargo in the last month of the year, joining other cargo operations in Europe and the United States that closed the year on a strong note. The airport ended the full year with 1.3 million tones, 3.9 percent better than 2006.

Some airlines and forwarders say they saw a surge at the end of the year as shippers who were reluctant to put goods into pipelines rushed goods to market near the end of the holiday season.

Heathrow's advance in December marked the ninth straight monthly increase at the United Kingdom's largest airport following a full-year of steep declines in the cargo business.

The December gain was the strongest improvement at the airport since August 2004, when cargo tonnage grew 18.9 percent. It left the airport 3.9 percent ahead of its cargo figures for 2006.

London's other area airports have yet to show resurgence. Tonnage at London Gatwick Airport was down 9 percent in December, while tonnage at London Stansted fell 3.5 percent for the month, and was down 9.4 percent for the full-year.

Robert W. Moorman