Readers of US-based Air Cargo World magazine have selected Frankfurt Airport (FRA) as the best major air cargo gateway in Europe having presented its 2007 Air Cargo Award of Excellence.

FRA regards the recognition as carrying "significant weight" because it comes from cargo experts, said an airport statement.

The publisher said that the annual Air Cargo Excellence (ACE) survey "provides quantitative feedback from the airport's cargo customer base of airlines and airfreight forwarders who ship to or through FRA".

Frankfurt won the award "by achieving superior ratings" from customers in handling services, price/performance, facilities and infrastructure for cargo handling, as well as operations of regulatory agencies, said FRA.

In the first quarter, FRA handled 491,518 metric tons of airfreight, a year-on-year increase of 2.3 per cent. FRA also posted a 0.3 per cent gain in March tonnage, handling 184,937 tons and setting a new monthly record.