Alibaba is planning to build a giant logistics and distribution centre in proximity to Liège Airport which could lead to the creation of several hundred jobs, rising to more than 1,000 in the mid-term, according to media reports in Belgium.
It follows the announcement last week that the Chinese e-commerce mastodon's logistics arm, Cainiao Smart Logistics Network, had selected the Belgian gateway as one of five global hubs, the others being Kuala Lumpur, Dubai, Moscow and Hangzhou.
The hub development is designed to enhance cross-border logistics infrastructure in order to improve the consumer experience, with an ultimate goal of boosting the speed and quality of service in 100 cities within three years, the company said. No further details on Cainiao's global hub expansion plan were disclosed.
Belgian business newspaper L’Echo underlined that while nothing has been signed at this stage, it had received confirmation from several, unidentified sources that negotiations between the Belgian authorities and Alibaba on the construction of the distribution centre near Liège Airport were at an advanced stage. The report said that Belgian prime minister, Charles Michel, had met Alibaba founder and president, Jack Ma, on several occasions.
In a statement, Liege Airport said that e-commerce shipments from the Cainiao network were already entering the European market via the Belgian gateway and that establishing the hub will increase these volumes and result in more flights between Asia and Liege.
“We particularly wish to thank all our partners who have enabled us to receive one of the largest logistics firms in the world. Cainiao has chosen our airport for its flexibility, the quality of its services, its advantages consisting of its ideal localisation in Europe, the fact that it is open 24/7 and its connectivity with the other continents,” said Liège Airport CEO, Luc Partoune.
“The e-commerce strategy in air cargo will truly revolutionise air transport and logistics processing. The digitisation of operations, their monitoring and robotisation are profoundly changing our businesses. Liege Airport is destined to become the cargo airport of the future and the partnership with Cainiao will contribute to this,” he added.
Liège handled a record 717,000 tonnes of air cargo in 2017 and the aim is to exceed 800,000 tonnes this year. The majority of this traffic is generated by FedEx Express and TNT Express, with Liège already serving as a hub for the express operators' intercontinental and intra-European air networks while also being the focal point of TNT's extensive road network spanning the European continent.
Asked by CEP-Research whether Cainiao was already tapping into these networks or was planning to do so, and when its Liège hub would become operational and the volume of e-commerce cargo it was likely to generate, the airport declined to comment.
A couple of years ago, Liège Airport unveiled ambitious plans to become a major, international distribution centre for e-commerce and has since announced plans for approximately 20,000 sqm of additional warehousing to come on stream this year.
Another media report quoted “sources at the airport” who pointed to a contract being negotiated with Shenzhen based e-commerce logistics provider, 4PX Express (4PX) to locate at Liege Logistics Park.
Created in 2004, 4PX claims to be China’s number one cross-border e-commerce solutions provider and employs over 1,500 staff across 50 different global locations. According to its website, “its services include logistics, software, and consulting services. Over 20,000 merchants rely on various 4PX services to succeed in the e-commerce world. Today, 4PX is the market leader in China by revenues, orders processed, and overall scale in operations.”
It is recognized as a 'preferred partner' by the likes of eBay, Amazon, Alibaba, and others. 4PX's major investors include Singapore Post Limited and Shenzhen Capital Group, one of the Chinese state's largest investment companies.
Liège Airport could also be set to play a role in Alibaba's major peer, Amazon, developing an air network in Europe. Earlier this year, CEP-Research reported that ASL Aviation Group, which acquired Liège-based TNT Airways and its fleet of cargo aircraft in 2016, was set to establish closer ties with Amazon, operating a number of aircraft on behalf of the online retailer.
CEO Hugh Flynn told the Irish Times newspaper that the group’s business with Amazon had begun quietly but he was hoping it would develop to a point where ASL was flying 10 aircraft on a regular basis for the US giant. He explained that currently ASL was providing Amazon with airlift mainly out of Poland to the UK and Italy to the UK. Future co-operation could provide scope for ASL to operate flights to and from Liège on behalf of Amazon.
