Freight volumes have shot past the one million tonne barrier at Leipzig/Halle Airport, growing at four times the average rate for Germany.

Between January and October, Leipzig/Halle handled 1,012,448 tonnes of freight, up 9.1 per cent on 2017.

October was also a strong month, with 6.3 per cent year-on-year growth to 105,697 tonnes.

The growth in the first 10 months of the year is above the average for Germany of 2.2 per cent, according to figures from the German Airports Association.

DHL, which made Leipzig/Halle its largest hub in 2008, is driving much of the airport’s growth, while freight charters continue to develop above the average rate.

Freight volumes totalled 1.14 million tonnes in 2017 and volumes have increased more than tenfold since 2007.

The airport has been DHL’s European hub since 2008 and there are plans to expand the infrastructure in the apron area the express company uses to create 36 more aircraft parking spaces.

Leipzig/Halle is the base of DHL Express and Lufthansa Cargo’s joint venture AeroLogic, and is the headquarters of Volga-Dnepr’s subsidiary Aircraft Maintenance and Engineering Service, which maintains Antonov AN-124s and western aircraft.

Two AN-124-100s are permanently stationed in Leipzig as part of the Strategic Airlift International Solution (SALIS) Project.

AirBridgeCargo also operates regular freighter charter flights and scheduled services from Leipzig to Moscow.