Airports

Leipzig/Halle Airport signs MOU with Hanoi’s Noi Bai International Airport

Leipzig/Halle Airport has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Hanoi’s Noi Bai International Airport which will see the two airports cooperate on future market and strategy development.

The agreement creates the framework for long-term cooperation with a major focus on e-commerce and an exchange of experiences and information as well as personnel. Geared towards the long term, the cooperation aims to establish and expand air freight traffic between the two airports.

The MOU is linked to the traditionally good relations between Vietnam and the Central German region, which go back to the 1950s and provides the basis of the cooperation between the airports.

Alongside China, Vietnam is one of the dynamically growing markets for e-commerce and logistics with an increasing volume of goods and items originating in the region. Air freight volumes between Vietnam and the EU rose by 94 per cent between 2012 and 2017 and by 70 per cent between Vietnam and Germany, according to Eurostat.

Leipzig/Halle Airport is the fifth-largest cargo hub in Europe and handled more than 1.14 million tonnes in 2017 and said it will continue to develop as a multimodal e-commerce hub during the next few years. The German government’s coalition agreement also envisages further strengthening the air freight site at Leipzig/Halle.

Noi Bai International Airport is one of the largest airports in Vietnam and handles annual cargo volumes totalling about 712,700 tonnes – and, like Leipzig/Halle Airport, offers further growth potential.

Saxon State Minister for Economic Affairs, Labour and Transport, Martin Dulig who led the delegation to Vietnam on behalf of Leipzig/Halle Airport said: “Leipzig/Halle Airport forms the core of the logistics region in Central Germany. The modern infrastructure and the 24-hour operating permit for freight traffic have created significant growth in the volumes of freight being handled. We want to continue this success story.

“The memorandum of understanding that we’ve signed today can open up new doors for us in south-east Asia and make a contribution towards continuing to strengthen Saxony as a business centre.”

Mitteldeutsche Flughafen chairman of the board, Götz Ahmelmann added: “Leipzig/Halle Airport fulfils all the conditions for acting as a multimodal hub for flows of goods between Vietnam, Germany and Europe in future and has been able to attract an important player in the region in the form of Noi Bai International Airport.

“In addition to the general conditions in the form of ideal infrastructure, the continually developing product portfolio in terms of logistics services at the airport creates the basis for establishing direct transport services in future.”

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