Volga-Dnepr Group to increase use of Leipzig/Halle Airport
18 / 06 / 2019
From left to right: Gцtz Ahmelmann, CEO at Mitteldeutsche Flughafen AG (MFAG), Dr Matthias Hass, Minister of Finances in the Free State of Saxony, Aleksey Isaykin, President of Volga-Dnepr Group.
The Volga-Dnepr Group has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to increase its use of Leipzig/Halle Airport.
The MoU, signed with Mitteldeutsche Flughafen, will see Volga-Dnepr and AirBridgeCargo (ABC) ramp up operations at the airport, with ABC increasing its weekly flights to 20 by the end of 2021 and 50 by 2030.
Both companies are also planning to intensify their co-operation in the fields of marketing, sales as well as the development of business and personnel, with as many as 500 new jobs created thanks to the partnership.
Konstantin Vekshin, Executive President, Charter Cargo Operations of Volga-Dnepr, said: “We have been striving to set up and develop effective system of regional hubs throughout the world to secure timely response to our customers’ requirements, specifically, given a recent trend involving greater share and volumes of special loads.
“Nearly three decades of our experience, bolstered by knowledge and expertise will serve as a guarantee for the transformation of Leipzig airport into a vertically integrated multimodal hub.”
Mitteldeutsche Flughafen CEO Götz Ahmelmann said: “Our strategy for Leipzig/Halle is clear. There are capacity bottlenecks in air traffic across Europe.
“We have the capacity reserves that are urgently required. We’re delighted that the Volga-Dnepr Group, one of our most important partners, is now taking the next step in its development.
“The signing of the MoU is another milestone in our co-operation arrangement that is based on trust. We want to continue developing the Cargo Hub Leipzig/Halle together.”
The Volga-Dnepr group has also signed a deal with Liege Airport in Belgium to further develop operations there. These moves come as some of Europe’s main airport hubs continue to struggle with cargo congestion and slot limitations, forcing freighter operators to explore the use of airports with less emphasis on passenger operations.
Leipzig/Halle Airport handled more than 1.2m tonnes of cargo in 2018, making it the fifth-largest air freight hub in Europe and the number two in Germany.
It recently announced it would develop a second cargo city in the northern airport area.
The MoU was signed today in the presence of the Saxon State Minister of Finances, Dr Matthias Hass, at the 53rd International Paris Air Show in Le Bourget.
