Górnośląskie Towarzystwo Lotnicze SA, which manages Katowice Airport, has signed an agreement with Skanska SA for the construction of a new cargo terminal along with accompanying infrastructure. This is the first air cargo terminal in Poland whose design involved its future tenants. As a result, the facility will meet all functional requirements of the companies using it.
The construction of the new cargo base is an important element of the development strategy for the air freight market at Katowice Airport and throughout southern Poland. The Pyrzowice airport is naturally suited to handle this type of traffic. The airport serves the most industrialized region in Poland, with a high concentration of companies in the automotive and medical sectors that rely heavily on air transport. Excellent connectivity of the airport via the A1 motorway and the S1 expressway with the European motorway system makes companies from all over southern Poland, northern Czech Republic, and Slovakia increasingly eager to use the services of courier companies operating from Pyrzowice.
The airport’s location on the edge of the Silesian-Dąbrowa agglomeration ensures that the port is accessible 24/7, 365 days a year without any restrictions. These advantages are also recognized by courier companies and cargo brokers involved in organizing air transport. Pyrzowice is already the largest Polish regional cargo airport, with a freight volume of approximately 18,000 tons per year.
The world’s largest courier companies fly regular routes from Katowice Airport to their European continental hubs. Furthermore, as confirmed in 2014, Pyrzowice is the first-choice airport in Poland for organizing cargo charters using wide-body, long-haul freighters. The construction of the new cargo base is a natural complement to investments already completed, including the new runway, which was crucial for the airport’s development.
The new cargo base will be located in the southeastern part of the airport. This will separate road traffic related to passenger and cargo handling. The facility will be built on an 11-hectare plot directly in front of the new cargo aircraft apron currently under construction. Locating the facility directly in front of the apron will significantly speed up and facilitate the handling of freighters, which is particularly important from the perspective of courier companies. The facility will have 10,000 square meters of usable space and approximately 2,000 square meters of office space. It will be about three times larger than the currently used cargo terminal. The building’s design will allow for modular expansion. The project will also include an internal road system with a parking lot featuring 29 spaces for semi-trailers (up to 40 tons), 38 spaces for delivery vehicles (up to 3.5 tons), and 109 spaces for passenger cars. The planned completion date for the investment is May 2016.
The main tenant of the space in the new cargo terminal, based on an agreement signed with GTL SA, will be DHL Express (Poland). The company was involved in this project at the design stage, ensuring that the part used by DHL Express will meet global DHL standards. DHL air shipments for all of southern Poland are handled at Katowice Airport; the new cargo terminal will serve as a sorting facility for international air shipments (gateway). The joint investment is a consequence of the strategy for developing courier shipments in the southern Poland region that has been implemented for years. The cargo terminal, with DHL Express as its main tenant, will join the most modern facilities of this type, simultaneously serving as a service center for international express shipments and a sorting facility for international air shipments (gateway), one of six currently operating in Poland.
The use of modern technological solutions in the new facility will increase potential and handle a larger number of shipments (ultimately up to 3,500 shipments/hour), thereby ensuring the highest quality service during so-called peak parcel periods (e.g., before the holidays). Customers will also benefit from reduced handling times thanks to sorters and a significantly increased number of loading bays. Shipment security will be guaranteed by a modern monitoring system. As part of the DP DHL Group’s global GoGreen environmental strategy, care has also been taken to equip the facility with appropriate solutions in this area, including eco-friendly technologies and intelligent energy management systems.
– We are one step further in realizing our company’s long-term goals regarding investment and organizational capabilities. At the end of last year, we introduced a larger aircraft on the Leipzig-Katowice/Pyrzowice-Kyiv-Katowice/Pyrzowice-Leipzig route and launched a new connection to Kyiv. Today, this means carrying out about 80 flights to and from Katowice on a monthly basis and 200 connections to and from Poland every month. In the near future, we will carry out another important project on the scale of the southern Poland region and the entire country. This only confirms that our highest priority is the satisfaction of customers using DHL Express international services – believes Tomasz Buraś, Managing Director of DHL Express (Poland). – Timeliness, high quality of services and service standards, flexibility of solutions, and functionality of logistics processes dedicated to meeting customer needs and requirements, and finally adapting operations to the pace of market changes – all this to be closer to the customer. We are pleased that we are carrying out another project in cooperation with Górnośląskie Towarzystwo Lotnicze, our long-term partner with extensive experience, knowledge, and a professional approach.