AirBridgeCargo Airlines has chosen Worldwide Flight Services as its handling partner in at Liege Airport.

According to ABC, the agreement is in support of the strategic partnership signed between parent company Volga-Dnepr Group and Liege Airport to significantly increase their cooperation, boosting cargo volumes and placing Liege among the top five cargo airports in Europe by 2020.

The airport is due to open the first phase of a new dedicated cargo area at the end of 2019.

“Our close collaboration will facilitate the seamless and rapid building of the first 12,500 square metres of warehousing premises, which will be operational in November 2019,” said Andrey Andreev, vice president of Europe at AirBridgeCargo. “This will support our intention to increase ABC’s current schedule of eight weekly frequencies from Liege to our target of 30 flights per week by 2020 in line with our customers’ wishes and our vision of joint, intensified cooperation. This is a global project for AirBridgeCargo because, as well as representing a substantial enhancement of our cargo infrastructure in the region, it will allow us to increase our use of Liege Airport to leverage major international trade flows, including for special cargoes, and extend our ability to meet the needs of global businesses and consumers.”

Barry Nassberg, group chief commercial officer of WFS, said that the company is proud to be partnering with ABC and Liege Airport, and to be expanding its long-time global relationship with ABC.

“As the world’s largest cargo handler, we’re also excited about entering the Liege market for the first time, which has been a strategic objective of ours,” he said. “We’ll be bringing the unique WFS experience to the airport, along with our technology, systems and security processes, and are confident in our ability to help accelerate ABC’s and Liege Airport’s growth ambitions.”

According to Luc Partoune, CEO of Liege Airport, ABC and the airport have been a perfect match from the start of their cooperation.

“We all share the same cargo DNA,” he said. “We are delighted with the new development that confirms our freighters-first strategy. All of the parties involved in this partnership are really committing to the future of Liege, not only on paper, but by investing millions of euros in a new state-of-the-art facility. We see the first phase nearing completion, while the second phase, another 12.500-square-metre first-line facility, will be ready in 2020. We welcome WFS as operator of the dedicated facility, as they bring more know-how and experience to Liege. The additional flights, operated by one of the newest, cleanest and most silent widebody fleets in the world, alongside the facility, are another driver for further direct and indirect job creation at Liege Airport.”

In addition to new warehouse facilities, Liege Airport is also constructing additional aircraft stands for widebody aircraft with access to the enclosed cargo handling areas through a ramp zone.