Azerbaijan targets 30 million tonnes of transit cargo by 2030

Azerbaijan expects transit cargo volumes through the country to reach 30 million tonnes by 2030, Deputy Digital Development and Transport Minister Rashad Hasanov said.

“Transit cargo through Azerbaijan has roughly doubled in the past five years. We expect to close this year at around 16 million tonnes and by 2030 we expect to reach 30 million tonnes,” Hasanov told a German-Azerbaijani connectivity conference.

He said container traffic at the Port of Baku rose by more than 30% year-on-year in the first nine months of the year, while the port’s second phase of expansion is expected to raise container capacity to 500,000 TEU.

A planned connection to Turkey via Nakhchivan, known as the Zangezur Corridor, is expected to provide Azerbaijan with a second western gateway with capacity of up to 15 million tonnes, he said.

Hasanov said overflights through Azerbaijani airspace had increased more than fivefold in four years to more than 260,000 annually.

A new cargo airport being developed in the Alat Free Economic Zone will add annual cargo capacity of 1 million tonnes, he said.

Azerbaijan is also in the final stages of negotiations with international partners on an artificial intelligence data centre in the Alat Free Economic Zone, Hasanov said, adding that the facility is designed to serve Azerbaijan and the wider region.