Rise in obsolete cargo terminals
27 / 04 / 2013
LARGE, expensive, on-airport warehouses are lying empty around the air cargo world – because their size and layouts are no longer suitable for modern handling techniques.
Changes in regulatory and customer requirements have led to faster through-flows and are altering the landscape for the ground handling business.
Operators are doing more, with less space, experts note.
They can now handle as many shipments in two facilities where in the past they required five or six.
According to Barry Nassberg, group chief operating officer at Worldwide Flight Services (WFS), many cargo terminals that were built 15 or 20 years ago are obsolete.
“There are quite a few big changes that have altered the landscape,” he says.
Two big influences are strict security regimes and higher efficiency.
Ray Brimble, chief executive of cargo facility developer Lynxs Group, admits: “The size and the quantity of facilities at many airports are no longer needed.
“In the mid 1990s we were looking at 1.5-to-two tonnes per square foot, per year. I suspect it is three-to-five tonnes now.”
