FedEx chairman Frederick Smith said on a visit to France this week that while the corporationremained committed to its French operations, its European hub at Roissy Charles de Gaulle airport
near Paris needed better connections with the rest of Europe.Smith was attending a French foreign investment council on his way back from the WorldEconomic Forum in Davos last week. He attended the government’s “strategic council on Franceattractiveness” at the invitation of French prime minister Dominique de Villepin.
“One of the key remaining issues for France is to develop an integrated regional transportinfrastructure using high-speed trains to deliver air cargo throughout Europe. This would greatlybenefit the local economy and the environment,” Smith said.
FedEx, La Poste and Air France Cargo want a new TGV rail station, costing up to EUR 100million, to be built near the airport by 2010, raising the attractiveness of Roissy as a Europeanintermodal hub.
The FedEx chairman, president and CEO also raised concerns about the need to remove perceivedbarriers to French markets. These included capacity restrictions at Roissy airport and “complexcustoms procedures”.
“We are committed to working with the French government to find solutions that ensure France’s ability to expand and remain competitive,” he said.
FedEx Express chose Roissy Charles de Gaulle as the site of its European hub in 1999 and hasinvested EUR 220 million there.
Some 1,000 tons of freight move through the 77,000 sqm hub every day and it can process30,000 parcels and 30,000 documents an hour.
The US company serves all of France’s cities, using 215 aircraft to make 294 flights a week,and employs 2,500 people in the country, 1,800 at Charles de Gaulle.
