Swissport has officially inaugurated a new 8,000 sqm air cargo center near Vienna Airport – its second facility to serve air cargo customers in Vienna.

The global cargo and aircraft ground handler said the new facility is connected with Swissport's on-airport cargo center by a dedicated electric truck, the first of its kind in Swissport's growing global network of air cargo centers.

Aggressive expansion in Vienna

"Swissport continues to aggressively grow its air cargo business to participate in strong global demand for air cargo logistics and to capture additional market share," Swissport said, noting that the second cargo center will resolve local constraints and provide air carriers and forwarders in Vienna with additional capacity and more flexibility.

The newly built 8,000 sqm facility is located in the DLH SkyLog Park in Fischamend in the immediate vicinity of Vienna Airport. Swissport is one of the first movers to the DLH SkyLog Park.

"We have invested in this state-of-the-art 8,000 sqm air cargo center to support our growth ambitions in forwarder handling, and of course to serve existing and new airline customers with an even better product," said Dirk Goovaerts, Swissport’s global cargo chair.

"We are very excited to more than double our capacity in Vienna and now have the infrastructure in place to support our vertical integration plans."

Swissport said the facility is set up for "superior environmental performance," featuring a 900,000-kWh photovoltaic system. The system's energy production corresponds to the annual electrical consumption of about 260 households.

Swissport noted that it also relies on electric innovation on the ground: the center in Fischamend is connected to the existing airside facility by a dedicated electric cargo shuttle.

It added that high-performance charging which is available on-site ensures that the Swissport e-truck can shuttle between the two locations without restrictions.

Swissport said it is working to make air cargo processes more sustainable and efficient to continue to improve its services while reducing specific CO² emissions.

In 2021, Swissport handled around 70,000 tons of air cargo at Vienna Airport, where its capacity to support airlines and forwarders has now doubled. Within Austria, Swissport also operates a 3,500 sqm airside air cargo center in a joint venture with Graz Airport.

Demand for air cargo on the rise

"With demand for global air cargo logistics already above pre-pandemic levels and persisting global capacity constraints in air and sea logistics, Swissport expects growth in air cargo handling to outperform general airport ground handling for some time," the handler said.

It noted that the company has made cargo a strategic priority and set ambitious goals to grow its second largest business line from 5.1 million in 2021 to over 6 million tons over the next couple of years.