Ground_Support_SeptemberP2019 - 51

CARGO
MATTERS

airport's further development as a multimodal logistics hub.
Effective at the end of 2021, the airport
plans to increase the weekly flights alone
with the Boeing freighter fleet from 20 to
50 by 2030.
"In addition, our companies plan an
intensification of cooperation in areas such
as marketing, operations and business and
personnel matters. In the course of this
cooperation, the VDG has been since 2006
a close partner of our airport. The Antonov
124 and IL 76TD-90VD freighters are part
of our daily feature as also the Boeing 747 of
AirBridgeCargo. Over and above, the associate company of Volga-Dnepr Group AMTES
maintains here an MRO base for Russian as
well as Western aircraft," Ahmelmann says.
Being among the group's long-standing
strategic partners, Leipzig airport hosts
VDA operational base, which has been
functioning with assistance from Aircraft
Maintenance and Engineering Service
GmbH (AMTES), part of Volga-Dnepr

Technics. For the next 30 years, AMTES
will take on lease renewed hangar facilities
to maintain effective and timely MRO of the
group's fleet. The company plans to modernize an existing 12 An-124-100 planes to
meet existing ICAO requirements. VDG is a
world leader in the market of oversized and
super-heavy cargo transportation.
Despite the uncertainties plaguing global
trade with the ongoing US-China trade war
and its impact on the cargo business, the
airport's cargo volume rose by some 2 percent to over 511,000 metric tons; indeed, it
achieved a record cargo volume of 110,419

metric tons in March 2019.
Ground handling is an equally important segment for the airport whose associate
company PortGround has been investing in
new technical equipment.
Besides capacity expansion, the airport
chief says that it pays great attention to
increasing efficiency, deploying new technologies and simplifying procedures.
"The environment-friendly switch from
diesel to electric-powered equipment plays
an important role," Ahmelmann stresses.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Manik Mehta is a New York-based journalist, who specializes in all the aspects of
aviation and logistics, including airlines, aircraft leasing, airports, infrastructure, cargo
and ground handling, as well as global markets, trade and business.

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Goetz Ahmelmann, chairman of
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Photo courtesy of Leipzig/Halle Airport |
Ronald Bonss, photographer

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