AirBridgeCargo Airlines (ABC) has signed a 10 year lease agreement with Liege Airport to make the Belgian city its European hub.
The agreement is an extension of the memorandum of understanding signed between Liege Airport and Volga-Dnepr Group at the Farnborough International Airshow in July and will create jobs and drive airport development.
Under the agreement, ABC will lease warehouse premises covering 25,000 square metres, an investment of €25 million, which includes 2,000 square metres of office space.
The project will be divided into two phases, with the first one being launched in June 2019 when ABC takes the first 12,500 square metre warehouse.
The second phase will follow in 2020 and the Walloon Airports Company will build four new aircraft stands to accommodate ABC’s fleet.
Liege Airport chief executive officer, Luc Partoune says: “We had strong political support at both the federal and regional levels. AirBridgeCargo sees opportunities for expansion, can count on a quality workforce and rely on efficient Belgian customs. Thanks to AirBridgeCargo, we plan to reach one million metric tonnes by 2020 and become one of the top five cargo airports in Europe.”
ABC general director, Sergey Lazarev says: “With the lease of dedicated warehouse facilities for the next 10 years and ABC’s intention to increase the number of weekly flights to Liege up to 30 within the next 1.5 years, AirBridgeCargo will be able to leverage growing market demand for special cargoes, especially e-commerce shipments.”
