Express shipments play a dominant role at Cologne/Bonn airport, accounting for almost 80 percent of the total of 650,000 tons flown in and out of CGN in 2005 (+6% year-on-year).
     “As far as the express segment is concerned, we are ranked first in Europe, followed by Paris-Roissy, Liege, Brussels, East Midlands and Bergamo,” Walter Roemer, spokesman of the Rhine airport told FlyingTypers.
     “Express freight has turned out to be a very reliable and steady growth factor for quite a number of years at CGN airport.”
     The story goes back to as far as 1986 when Atlanta/Georgia-based UPS decided to use Cologne as its central European hub.
     Ever since traffic has sharply increased, averaging 110 flights each night, the majority of them – exactly 31 – being operated by Big Brown, followed by DHL.
     As a consequence in June 2001 UPS decided to build a new logistics facility at CGN, which was inaugurated January 30.
     The three floor, 75,500 meter building with 24 km of conveyer belts is a distribution center par excellance, a true state-of-the-art facility, with a throughput of as much as 110,000 shipments per hour.
     “This brand new express hub, which cost more than USD135 million, is UPS’ biggest investment ever outside the USA.
     “We feel UPS CGN affords us a competitive advantage for the years to come,” said David Abney, President UPS International, during the inauguration ceremony.
     According to a UPS spokesman the new sorting center is a necessary and forward-looking project due to growing volumes and “to further guarantee our considerable number of German and Dutch consignors next day delivery of their packages throughout the entire USA.”
     David Abney recalled that it all began 30 years ago, when the integrator first set foot on German soil.
     “In 1976 we commenced business with 211 employees and 30 customers in Germany.
     “Today a staff of about 15,000 people are involved with UPS in Germany,” Abney stated.
     Another point raised, as UPS kicked off its new facility is that technical innovation such as the Siemens built high-tech sorting center at CGN airport does not automatically result in a loss of jobs in the logistics industry.
     On the contrary.
     With double digit growth rates posted every year by UPS has resulted in continued workforce growth.
     Looking beyond the horizon Abney indicated that UPS most likely would deploy the mighty freighter Airbus A380 on intercontinental routes to and from its European hub in Cologne beginning at the end of this decade.
     “We haven’t exactly determined our A380 route map yet, but I assume that Cologne will be one destination we will serve with the aircraft.”
     UPS has purchased a total of ten A380Fs that are scheduled to be delivered between 2009 and 2013.
     But prior to all that excitement UPS said it is adding a new scheduled flight Shanghai-Cologne as of April 2006.
     For Cologne Airport however, it is not express freight only that is warmly welcomed, but traditional airfreight as well.
     “We strongly believe that the segment of standard freight will rise this year since we expect more cargo airlines to come,” says Michael Garvens, general manager of CGN.
     Perishables offer great potential for CGN.
     Although there are no facilities on airport to handle these temperature sensitive and delicate goods the airport said if it is approached by a carrier to service the local market that longs for pharmaceuticals, vegetables, fruits or flowers then:
     “We would not hesitate to build a warehouse for perishables at Cologne airport,” spokesman Walter Roemer assures.
Heiner Siegmund