Liege Airport in Belgium sees FedEx Express as a potential replacement for TNT Express if theDutch company’s air operations are gradually moved to Cologne following a takeover by UPS.
The airport’s head, José Happart, told daily newspaper La Libre Belgique that: “If TNT goes,there is another big company, FedEx, which is currently based in Paris. We will try to attract themhere in part.” However, the airport chief stressed that “if TNT were to leave Liege Airport, itwould not necessarily be a total withdrawal.”
But FedEx Europe responded cautiously to the airport’s move. A spokesperson told CEP-Research: “FedEx is always looking for ways to improve our service to customers and to offer them greateraccess to wider markets through our global network. With this in mind, we constantly review ournetwork for improvements and enhancements. However, we have no current plans to make anysignificant changes.”
As part of UPS’ planned $5.16 billion acquisition of TNT Express, the Dutch firm would sell itsLiege-based airline TNT Airways to Irish-based ASL Aviation while the air hub operations would bemaintained at Liege for at least one year. UPS has said it “recognises the value” of TNT’soperations in Liege but will focus in the long-term on its European air hub at Cologne, Germany,which is just 120km away. Experts believe ASL flights would gradually be switched from Liege toCologne during the merger of TNT into UPS.
TNT’s 75,000 sqm Euro Hub, with around 1,500 employees, sorts some 90,000 parcels (400 tonnes) anight, with about 70% of TNT’s worldwide shipments transiting through the facility. The hub openedin 1998 with an initial investment of €62 million and has been subsequently expanded with a further€80 million of investments over the last decade. TNT is understood to have an agreement coveringLiege airport that runs until 2038.
UPS is currently in the midst of a $200 million expansion of its 30,000 sqm European air hub atCologne. This will increase sorting capacity by 70% from the present 110,000 to 190,000 packagesper hour upon completion at the end of 2013. UPS employs around 2,300 people at the Cologne airhub, with a further 200 jobs expected once the expansion is completed.
FedEx opened its main European air hub at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport in 1999 and expandedthe facility to 72,000 sqm with capacity to sort 61,500 documents and packages per hour in a $158million enlargement in 2009. Some 1,900 staff work there. In parallel, FedEx Express moved itsCentral Europe hub from Frankfurt Airport to Cologne airport in 2010. The €140 million facility,covering 51,000 sqm, can sort 18,000 parcels an hour.
The largest express air hub in Europe is DHL’s facility at Leipzig, which opened in 2010 on agiant two million square metre site. The €300 million facility, which employs some 3,500 staff, cansort up up to 60,000 parcels and 36,000 documents per hour.
