Brucargo West opened at Brussels Airport

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Brucargo West


After two years of construction work, a new logistics building for the handling of goods was officially opened in the logistics area at Brussels Airport.

Brucargo West provides large refrigerated storage spaces and offers direct airside access and will accommodate Kuehne+Nagel, Worldwide Flight Services and Expeditors.

At the west side of Brucargo, Brussels Airport has invested in a building that provides some 50,000m² of warehousing space to meet the needs of Kuehne+Nagel, Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) and Expeditors, which are active in the transportation, packaging and warehousing of freight.

Brucargo West not only provides additional first-line facilities for handling activities (WFS), increasing maximum capacity, but also anchors the airfreight activities of Expeditors and Kuehne+Nagel.

Kuehne+Nagel is expanding its activities at Brussels Airport also for the handling of perishables (temperature-controlled storage and transportation of flowers, vegetables and fruit). The new infrastructure is especially suitable for the handling of pharmaceuticals, and in particular of vaccines, which is one of the niche markets Brussels Airport has specialised in, with over 30,000m² of refrigerated storage space.

Expeditors is heavily expanding its healthcare logistics in Europe and has chosen for Brussels Airport to become its pharmaceutical gateway to connect its European network with the rest of the world. The new Expeditors healthcare facility in combination with fully monitored end to-end temperature-controlled logistics is a differentiator in the market for the shipment of highly sensitive vaccines and pharmaceuticals. This new Expeditors facility is already playing a key role in the shipment of COVID-19 vaccines and related medical supplies.

“Thanks to Brucargo West, we now have additional logistics facilities for the transport in optimal conditions of pharmaceuticals in general and COVID-19 vaccines in particular,” explained Arnaud Feist, CEO of Brussels Airport.

“We are thus expanding our first-line logistics infrastructure and temperature-controlled storage facilities, now having the largest refrigerated storage capacity of any airport in Europe. Brussels Airport is a proactive investor who aims to make the logistics chain even more efficient and get it ready to accommodate future growth, making the airport an essential economic hub in Belgium, in terms of employment and added value for our country’s economy.”

Sustainability is key

Sustainability was a key concern throughout the construction of this logistics project, which started in May 2019. Part of the roof surface is laid out as a green roof while the entire surface is designed to be fitted with solar panels in the future.

Rain gardens were built to improve rainwater infiltration and rainwater pits were constructed for the reuse of rainwater, driving down the buildings’ use of mains water. The buildings were also equipped with LED lighting and heat pumps. In addition, to improve mobility within the airport grounds and facilitate more sustainable modes of transport for staff, charging stations for electric vehicles were installed in the area. Two additional bus stops and a new bicycle path complete the mobility offer.

Powerhouse for economic growth

Over one hundred logistics companies have set up office at Brussels Airport. Due to its particularly central location amid all the major industrial centres, the logistics area of Brussels Airport is a crucial powerhouse for the economic growth of the country and its regions, with almost 650,000 tonnes transported in 2020.

The Airport has invested a total of €100 million in the construction of ultra-modern logistics buildings including the Brinks building for the storage of valuable goods and the Animal Care & Inspection Centre for the temporary accommodation and transport of various animal species, as well as in the renovation of several existing buildings such as the Swissport Cargo building. And of course, in the construction of a brand-new building at Brucargo West.