January 24 - The growth of airfreight at Luxembourg Airport continued increasing by 8.2 percent compared with 2015, with an 8.5 percent growth in oversized shipments.
70,000 tonnes of oversized cargo was handled at Luxembourg Airport, and Lux-Airport claims this fast growth required additional investment in cargo infrastructure.
The largest investment is to extend the Cargo Apron to increase its capacity from eight to 12 Boeing 747-8 positions, claims Lux-Airport.
The works for this extension will start at the end of January and represent an investment of approximately EUR40 million (USD42.9 million). The works should be completed by mid-2018. According to Lux-Airport, a further extension for another four 747s is still possible in the future potentially enabling a total capacity of 16 747s to be handled at the same time.
LuxairCargo invested in a new fast lane truck-loading terminal for unit load devices (ULDs) and is extending the dedicated handling area for outsized and heavy shipment with a new building of 3,000 sq m.
According to Lux-Airport, Cargolux remains the airport's largest customer with 675,000 tonnes of freight equating to an 82 percent market share, using its 747 aircraft and large nose door to facilitate the movement of oversized freight.
Lux-Airport claims the growth rate for the airfreight sector has moved Luxembourg Airport to sixth place in the European top ten of the largest airfreight airports, preceded by Frankfurt, Paris, Amsterdam, Heathrow and Leipzig Halle.
