DHL Express said it plans to invest US$100 million to build a new logistics center at Milan Malpensa Airport. SEA Group, the company that operates Milan\u2019s airports, inked a deal for the construction with DHL, according to Varese News.
\nWork is expected to start by the end of this year, with completion estimated for the first half of 2018. The new hub will occupy 151,000 square feet and will be located within the new Cargo City DHL Express facility, Italy\u2019s main gateway for international goods. An advanced sorting system will enable more efficient handling of goods, tripling the current capacity.
\nAlberto Nobis, CEO of DHL Express, Italy, said the improvements will make Malpensa a key European hub for DHL, comparable to the hubs in Leipzig, East Midlands and Brussels. \u201cThe perspective from which we build this investment will probably accompany us for the next 10 years,\u201d Nobis said, adding that the facility will contain sustainable infrastructure.
\nMilan Malpensa currently handles 60 percent of Italian freight traffic, and is the leading cargo airport in Italy. In 2015, Malpensa recorded above-average growth rates for European airports in the same category, with a 9 percent increase in freight traffic, compared to the previous year. Malpensa is the sixth largest European airport, after Frankfurt, Paris, Amsterdam, London and Luxembourg.\u00a0Giulio De Metrio, CEO of SEA, said Malpensa is the \u201cdoor of the \u2018made in Italy\u2019 to the world.\u201d The deal with DHL, he said, \u00a0is \u00a0recognition of the more than $100 million in investments that SEA has made in the cargo sector, between 2011 and 2016.
\nSource: aircargoworld<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"