The Volga-Dnepr Group and Mitteldeutsche Flughafen AG (MFAG) will continue to expand their strategic partnership at Leipzig/Halle Airport in air freight and logistics.
Both companies agreed this in a Memorandum of understanding (MOU), signed today at the 53rd International Paris Air Show in Le Bourget today.
Volga-Dnepr Group and MFAG will join their forces in creating effective logistics system in Leipzig/Halle to boost cargo infrastructure development and set Leipzig/Halle as freight multimodal hub for scheduled and charter operations of Volga-Dnepr.
The agreement involving the two companies means a further boost for Leipzig/Halle; investments of up to €500 million are due to be made to expand this facility during the next few years.
The group will operate both charter and scheduled operations to/from Leipzig/Halle Airport, accumulating regular and project traffic on board AirBridgeCargo Airlines and Volga-Dnepr Airlines.
Boeing freighter fleet will fly up to 20 weekly flights to/from Leipzig/Halle Airport since the end of 2021, while gradually increasing this number till 50 in 2030.
Both companies are also planning to intensify their cooperation in the fields of marketing, sales as well as the development of business and personnel. As many as 500 new jobs are due to be created in various fields of activity as part of this cooperation arrangement.
Volga-Dnepr executive president for charter cargo operations, Konstantin Vekshin said: “We have been striving to set up and develop effective system of regional hubs throughout the world to secure timely response to our customers’ requirements, specifically, given a recent trend involving greater share and volumes of special loads.
“Nearly three decades of our experience, bolstered by knowledge and expertise will serve as a guarantee for the transformation of Leipzig airport into a vertically integrated multimodal hub.”
MFAG chief executive officer, Götz Ahmelmann said: “Our strategy for Leipzig/Halle is clear. There are capacity bottlenecks in air traffic across Europe. We have the capacity re-serves that are urgently required. We’re delighted that the Volga-Dnepr Group, one of our most important partners, is now taking the next step in its develop-ment.
“The signing of the MOU is another milestone in our cooperation arrange-ment that is based on trust. We want to continue developing the Cargo Hub Leipzig/Halle together.”
Leipzig/Halle Airport handled more than 1.22 million tonnes of cargo in 2018, making it the fifth-largest air freight hub in Europe and the number two in Germany.
Because of the increase in demand, investments of around €500 million will be made in new apron areas, logistics and office buildings in the northern and southern parts of Leipzig/Halle Airport during the next few years.
DHL has been operating its European hub there since 2008. The company has been maintaining the largest hub within its global network at Leipzig/Halle since 2008 and has invested €655 million in its construction.
Plans are also currently being drawn up to expand the infrastructure in the apron area used by DHL, which currently offers space for as many as 60 aircraft. The intended expansion project will provide up to 36 more parking positions.
