FedEx Express has announced plans for a major expansion of its European air hub at Paris and moredetails of its new Central European hub at Cologne as part of its international growth strategy.
The expanded capacity in Europe responds to increasing demand for fast and reliabletransportation services as manufacturers continue to move towards a global sourcing and productionmodel, the company said. FedEx continues to build its network across Europe to support this growth,with sustainable development of its hub facilities across the continent, it added.
The European hub at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport, which is already the biggest FedExfacilitiy outside of the United States, will be extended to increase sorting capacity from 24,000to 31,500 packages per hour and the sort area from 49,000 to 72,000 sqm. The hub’s new sortingsystems will be ready for September 2009, FedEx said.
FedEx noted that it would maintain its commitment to minimising impact on the environment,with more than 250 Liquefied Petroleum Gas-powered and electric-powered ground support vehicles atthe hub, which accounting for 62% of its ground support vehicles.
The hub, which opened in 1999, originally cost €220 million to construct, with costs sharedbetween the US express operator and Aeroports de Paris (ADP). The new extension work will beundertaken by ADP at the request of FedEx. No value for the hub extension was announced.
FedEx uses the Paris hub to link its network with the US super-hub at Memphis and the AsiaPacific hub in Subic Bay, as well as other intercontinental destinations, while there are alsovarious intra-European feeder flights. About 1,800 of the company’s 2,500 French staff work at thehub.
In Germany, FedEx already announced last year it will relocate its main hub for Central andEastern Europe from Frankfurt to Cologne in early 2010. The €140 million facility, with investmentcosts split equally between the express operator and the airport authority, will comprise a 50,000sqm handling facilities with capacity to sort 12,000 parcels an hour.
FedEx said yesterday that the Cologne facility will feature a 1.4-megawatt solar power systemwith the capacity to produce approximately 1.3 gigawatt hours of electricity per year, enough topower more than 370 homes each year, while the handling building will include 16,000 sqn of roofspace for solar panels.
“These major developments of hubs at the very heart of our European operations demonstrateour commitment to playing a central role in the future growth of the continent as a whole,” saidRobert W. Elliott, president, Europe, Middle East, Indian Subcontinent and Africa, FedEx Express. “At both Roissy-Charles de Gaulle and Cologne, we believe we have found innovative and practicalsolutions to our need to expand our operations that are good for business and the environment.”
The expansion plans were announced at an event hosted at the French tennis championships atRoland Garros.
