The management of the Belgian Airport has decided to increasingly address freight forwarders, encouraging them to open up on-site stations at Liège (LGG). More agents will result in greater tonnage figures and an upward business trend; that is the intention behind this initiative. At the same time, the airport intends to attract further cargo carriers. In 2023, LGG welcomed seven new freight airlines. In 2024, further scheduled freight airlines are noted on LGG’s shopping list.
‘Own controlled capacity’ is the message increasingly being spread to freight forwarders by Liège’s Cargo Sales Chief, Torsten Wefers, and his commercial team. By promoting the advantages offered by a physical presence in Liège, they intend to attract newcomers. So far, this has been a highly successful campaign, as shown by the total number of 50+ forwarders and logisticians that have settled in Liège. These include big boys like DHL GF, DSV, Kuehne+Nagel, Geodis, Bolloré, Ceva Logistics or Nippon Express, but also medium-sized companies such as Germany-headquartered Röhlig Logistics and Swiss Fracht AG, which have just established their own offices at LGG.
Promo tours
“Thanks to the European and intercontinental networks of freight forwarders, our cargo throughput will be further increased,” is the core statement exclaimed byairport boss, Laurent Jossart. He points out that there is no shortage of space for newcomers or existing customers willing to enlarge their handling facilities or move into new offices. The executive reminds that, based on its ‘Vision 2040’ masterplan, in the next years, new first line warehouses of 40,000 m² and an additional 400,000 m² second line facility will go into operation in Liège’s future Cargo City’s West and North/East parts. This message is spread at various promotion events taking place in all major European air cargo markets, including Amsterdam and Frankfurt. “We want to significantly increase our throughput, particularly our export volumes, by gaining market share from other airports,” Torsten Wefers frankly admits.
AMS slot cuts could play into LGG’s hands
At Schiphol Airport (AMS), the LGG management organized a ‘Flower Breakfast’ for the Dutch flower logistics industry. Supported by its local GHA-partners, the LGG airport community presented its recent and future set-up for fresh products, illustrated the merits of running a station at Liège, but also asked the Dutch experts for honest feedback on how to further improve the Walloon Airport’s own infrastructure and services.
A very targeted approach because Amsterdam still is the European ‘capital for flowers and perishables’, but future slot cuts might hit carriers directly, warns the Air Cargo Netherlands association. After all, there is nothing the freight industry dislikes more than operational insecurity.
Against this background, it is understandable that Liège organizes events like the one mentioned right on Schiphol’s doorstep, referencing the fast-growing turnover of fresh produce at its own site.
LGG’s next promotional events will target the huge German air cargo market. There, forwarders and shippers will hear from Wefers’ sales team about LGG’s unique cargo-only approach based on unrestricted & full flexible 24/7 operations and its capacities and services which sharply contrast the increasing restrictions and lack of capacities at German cargo hubs. The executive adds to this that Liège is just a short truck ride away.
From coal to cargo
As far as cargo is concerned, Liège Airport is a latecomer. The airport has only been focusing on the container, pallet, and parcel business for roughly two decades. The local freight business was kissed awake – at least indirectly – by the structural changes to the economy in Belgian’s Walloon province. Even until the early 2000s, the region was characterized by coal, steel, and heavy industry. Meanwhile, it is a prime address for life sciences, logistics, mechanical engineering, aerospace, and environmental technology.
Dire times seem to be over
This structural change makes the airport attractive for the cargo business, along with its round-the-clock operating license which was renewed in early 2023 to at least 2040. Strengthening the cargo business is key to the management, which points out that new market entrants are offered both abundant free slots and handling capacities. The throughput of around one million tons in 2023 is proof of this focus despite contracting volumes (-11%) year-on-year, suffered similarly by most European cargo hubs. In Liège’s specific case, freight throughput was heavily impacted by the move of FedEx (former TNT-hub) flights to Paris CDG, and the complete disappearance of AirBridgeCargo’s LGG-hub following Western sanctions against Russia following Putin’s war on Ukraine.
However, the dire tonnage times seem to be over since volumes have started picking up again since the end of 2023.
Asked about the names of the potential new cargo carriers the airport expects to welcome in 2024, Torsten Wefers remains tight-lipped. “Final discussions are ongoing, but I will be able to tell more to you in early summer, including the total tonnage we expect to process by the end of this year.”
