DHL Express has opened new facilities in the first phase of Budapest Airport’s 50 billion Forint ($191 million) BUD:2020 Development Programme.
The express company is the latest to launch at the warehouse and office complexes, which have automated sorting systems, and represent the largest air cargo development at Budapest Airport to date, with a total land area development of just over 60,000 square metres.
DHL Express Hungary managing director, Zoltán Bándli says: “The 6,000 m2 warehouse capacity will give DHL space to accommodate the volume growth of our business, with the new state-of-the-art sorting technology, which includes fully automatic shipment processing, allowing us to process more than 6,000 pieces per hour, which is three times our current capacity.”
He also says having DHL Global Forwarding and DHL Freight located at Budapest Airport will strengthen synergies between the business units and contribute to a more effective operation, further improving services and development of cross dock businesses.
More than 600 employees will be based at the two new express complexes at Budapest, which are located in the area next to Terminal 1.
The next freight phase of the BUD:2020 Development Programme will be the development of Cargo City next to Terminal 2, due to be completed in 2019.
The new facilities will provide centralised cargo operations, and expand the Hungarian hub’s cargo handling capacity to 250,000 tonnes per year.
Budapest Airport director of property and cargo, René Droese says: “We are pleased to kick start a new era for cargo at Budapest Airport with the opening of our new express facilities.”
He adds: “We have seen strong cargo growth during the last 18 months, and we look forward to further establishing Budapest Airport as the ideal location for air cargo distribution in Central Europe.”
