East Midlands Airport battles to keep cargo moving amid Brexit uncertainty
Airport officials are in the dark on whether all cargo will be subject to further checks after Brexit.
Thursday 7 March 2019 18:42, UK
The managing director of East Midlands Airport says extra border force officers are on standby if more checks are required on cargo from the EU after Brexit.
About 365,000 tonnes of freight passes through the airport every year, making it the second largest freight airport in the UK after Heathrow.
The runway is open 24 hours a day.
"Night time is when the real cargo operation comes alive," explains operations director Phill Morris.
Thousands of parcels are unloaded from planes as they arrive and are taken into warehouses. Many of them are items bought online and need to be delivered to customer's doorsteps.
It is essential that each flight is on time so that packages can make their onward journey.
About 80% of the cargo going through East Midlands Airport is from the European Union.
"If it's EU it goes straight through," Mr Morris explains. "If it's not EU it's at the discretion of the UK border force. They can hold it to inspect the cargo."
But no one seems to know what will happen after the UK leaves the EU or whether all cargo will be subject to further checks.
"We're still waiting for government guidance on how that will look," Mr Morris says.
The airport's managing director Karen Smart says they need to know what is happening.
"Really, like all major businesses in the area or in the UK what we're looking for is some certainty over Brexit and over the deal that we get," she says.
"Some of the customs checks may take slightly longer, certainly for the goods transiting in and out, but we have got continued freedom of flights so we will see the flights being able to continue as they are today."
Like many businesses, they're putting contingency plans in place.
Ms Smart said: "We're seeing many more border force officers who are ready to step up as required at the airport, working with the local authorities to make sure that we understand any potential impact of delays around the region".
Next to the airport a large logistics hub the size of 300 football pitches is being built.
When finished it will create 7,000 new jobs. Big e-commerce businesses including Amazon are due to move into the large warehouses. The first will be finished next month.
Andrew Pilsworth from Segro, the developers behind the project, says they haven't seen any businesses put off by Brexit.
"All we can say is what we see which is at the moment demand for these types of facilities and the level of enquiries we're getting are very very good" he says.
He is positive about the future of the site with its location in the centre of England and close proximity to air, road and rail routes.
"When people shop online they want their goods, they want them delivered and they want them delivered very quickly, quickly and accurately, and what you see here is the supply chain that supports that," he says.
Sky News is basing itself in Derby to file a series of special reports tracking the mood of the public and businesses in the run up to Brexit.