The Frankfurt-based airline handling agent will acquire a 74.9% stake in Cargogate, the ground handling subsidiary of operator, Munich Airport. For CHI, airline handling is the third major business pillar alongside trucking and forwarding handling. The takeover is scheduled for 01JAN25 but is still subject to regulatory approval.
The days when airports had their own subsidiaries responsible for airline handling services, are largely over. Today, players such as Menzies Aviation, Celebi, Swissport or WFS dominate this business. And increasingly CHI Aviation, at least in Central Europe. It will soon be managing the airline handling in Munich, following its entry at Nuremberg Airport, a year ago. “Munich is a highly attractive location for air cargo, offering excellent connectivity by belly-cargo capacity that generally has a lower yield which, in turn, makes it more profitable to freight forwarders. In addition, the comprehensive range of services offered by Cargogate enables the handling of full freighters at its best,” says Dominik Misskampf, Managing Director, CHI Aviation.
State-of-the-art infrastructure
Cargogate operates a first-line warehouse of around 17,000 m². Amongst other things, this includes a handling area, an automated high-racking system, an ETV for storing BUPs, a radioactive room, an animal station, as well as CEIV-certified Pharma facilities.
“I am pleased that, with CHI, we have been able to gain a strong strategic partner for our cargo subsidiary, Cargogate, in order to jointly advance cargo development at our Airport,” says Jost Lammers, CEO of Munich Airport. The executive further announced that “freight capacity will continue to increase this year. New routes to Seattle, Johannesburg, and Vietnam, as well as additional flight frequencies – including to Beijing and Osaka – offer industrial and logistics companies in Munich Airport’s catchment area, additional opportunities to ship directly via Munich.”
Soaring business
Mr. Lammers says that a significant share of MUC’s cargo traffic is attributable to belly freight. The direct connections to China that are being offered again, the new route to Bangalore in southern India and the route to Taipei, which is flown four times a week, are being extremely well welcomed, especially by the strong Bavarian export industry, he tells.
Jobs are secured
The employment of the Cargogate staff is secured by the contractual agreement with Flughafen München GmbH, which will keep 25.1% in the upcoming joint venture.
The joint venture will continue to operate under its current name, Cargogate Munich Airport GmbH, until further notice. The common goal is the sustainable further development of air freight at Munich Airport, to substantially increase volumes. In 2023, a total of 284,000 tons were handled in MUC. This translates into an increase of 6.6% compared to the previous year. MUC was therefore the only major German airport whose volume grew last year.
There are reasons for this success, CEO Lammers states: “Munich Airport’s cargo area scores particularly well with its fast turnaround times, thanks to its efficient infrastructure which enables goods to be transported to the aircraft quickly due to the short distances. This infrastructure is currently continuing to grow. DHL Express is planning to put a new building for cargo handling into operation in the coming weeks. The airport also has enough space for setting up additional facilities in the cargo area.”
Expansion continues
According to Kai Domscheit, MD CHI Aviation, 23 airlines belong to the portfolio of the CHI Group. The company group will now focus on Munich, subject to official approval of the joint venture. “Our expansion continues, following our buy-and-build strategy whereby we combine continuous organic growth with further transactions.” The executive confirms that CHI’s interest in intensifying its activities at Leipzig airport still remains. All of CHI’s latest transactions indicate that CHI is currently focusing on extending its airline handling business endeavors. The CHI Group operates in Frankfurt, Nuremberg, Munich, Hamburg and Amsterdam. In addition to classic air freight handling, it also offers trucking services, packaging logistics and documentation, security services, among others.
