German airport Leipzig/Halle officially opened two new 3.6km runways last week as part of thedevelopment to turn it into an international freight hub and European base for Deutsche Post’s DHL
Express subsidiary as of this autumn.Some EUR 290 million has been invested in the parallel take-off and landing runway complexes,which will mainly serve continental Europe and create around 3,500 jobs by 2012, rivallingCologne/Bonn as the main freight airport in Germany. They took just two years to build.
A further EUR 60 million has been spent on extensive noise and environmental protectionmeasures and land acquisition. The runways will handle 50 aircraft carrying between 1,500 and 2,000tonnes a day.
“With its parallel runway system now operational, Leipzig/Halle Airport is perfectly poisedto establish itself in the long term as a competitive alternative to Europe’s current air cargo andlogistics demand centres,” said Eric Malitzke, managing director of the airport.
“The establishment of DHL’s future European hub at Leipzig/Halle Airport impressivelydocuments the airport’s capabilities and the validity of central Europe’s infrastructure policy.This development has only been made possible for the airport thanks to the comprehensive,far-sighted strategy of its shareholders, particularly the Free State of Saxony.
“Together with the airport’s management, they have been successfully and consistentlydeveloping the airport into one of Eastern Germany’s biggest employers ever since the beginning ofthe post-communist era.”
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The European Commission is investigating the financing of the airport, which will be one ofDHL’s three worldwide air hubs alongside those in Wilmington (USA) and Hong Kong.
The probe concerns whether the funding breaches EU state aid rules as to how much aid andguarantees come from the Saxony regional government and whether the subsidies will distort theEuropean express parcels market.
