Brussels Airport to Invest €100M in Logistics Buildings
9th March 2018
Brussels Airport Company is to invest €100 million in ultra-modern logistics buildings. This investment will further strengthen the crucial position of Brussels Airport as the second most important logistics cluster in Belgium, serving the top players in the aviation industry, including Kuehne + Nagel, Swissport Cargo Services, Dnata, Brinks and many hundreds of other companies.
Today, more than a hundred different players in the logistics chain are already active at Brucargo, the cargo area of Brussels Airport. In this way, Brucargo offers Belgium a crucial platform for the import and export of many companies and is, after the Port of Antwerp, the 2nd most important logistics hub for international trade. The area is a crucial engine for economic growth in the country, not least because of its exceptional central location between all important industrial centres. Brussels Airport Company will be making large investments in the coming period to further strengthen Brucargo.
“These investments are of huge importance for the logistics landscape in Belgium and are entirely in line with our Strategic Vision for 2040. With these investments, Brussels Airport will remain in the future a crucial hub for air transport and the logistic chains in Europe, at the service of many hundreds of companies in our country,” explains Arnaud Feist, CEO of Brussels Airport Company. “It is also a strategic objective to offer more and in particularly even better support to the many companies who work through air cargo transport and enabling them to more easily import and export their goods from and to the whole world. This not only ensures employment at the airport itself, but also in various other sectors in all parts of the country.”
In recent years (between 2009 and 2013), three large air cargo buildings have been developed. Today, companies such as bpost, DHL GLOBAL Forwarding, Abbott and a number of specialised logistics companies make use of them. Last year, DHL Express opened their 31.500 sqm brand new state of the art sorting centre at Brussels Airport.
In the coming 3 years, Brussels Airport will further invest in total EUR 100 million in the development of ultramodern logistics buildings, which will be used by leading companies in the industry.
Brussels Airport Company will be investing in a building of no less than 50,000m2 on the West Side of Brucargo with direct apron connection for 4 different companies. Kuehne + Nagel, Dnata and WFS will be among the companies making use of these buildings for shipping, packaging and temporarily stocking cargo. The new infrastructure is also specifically suited for the handling of high-quality and temperature-sensitive products (such as pharmaceuticals), products for which Brucargo is already recognised as one of the leading airports in the world. In this way, Brucargo further supports a number of key sectors in Belgium, such as the many large pharmaceutical companies.
Brussels Airport will also redevelop existing handling buildings that have direct access to the tarmac. The building in which handling agent Swissport is active shall, in the coming 3 years, be systematically transformed into a modern and energy-efficient storage and office space. In total, it will have a surface area of 30,000m2.
An additional new building will provide a secured area for the specific transport of extremely valuable goods. Brinks will be moving into this building in 2019. Part of the investment will go to an exclusive animal border inspection area of more than 2500m², fitted out in various temperature and/or light areas to create the perfect environment for all types of animals.
“It is our ambition to remain an import cargo hub in future and strengthen the position of BRUcargo as an efficient and important logistical platform”, concludes Steven Polmans, Head of Cargo and Logistics at Brussels Airport. And he adds: “In recent years we have proven our commitment to cargo and we reconfirmed this in our Strategic Vision 2040 launched last year. This investment is another step in realizing this ambition together with all our stakeholders and customers.”
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