Deutsche Lufthansa has increased investment in a comprehensive modernization of its large air cargo hub in Frankfurt by 100 million euros ($110.5 million) as the new high-bay warehouse rises one year after construction started.
Lufthansa’s cargo subsidiary aims to transform the 3.5 million-square-foot cargo terminal – equivalent in size to 46 soccer fields – into Europe’s most advanced air hub. Last week it marked the renovation project’s progress with a celebration attended by local politicians, customers, employees and project partners. The entire project is scheduled to be completed in 2030.
The airline said it is investing $663 million in the modernization project. The price tag is higher than originally planned because management rolled the planned revitalization of an existing cargo building into the project, said spokesman Jan Paulin in an email message. The renewal will cover cargo handling areas and offices, including storage and conveyor technology and IT systems.
Lufthansa Cargo operates 18 Boeing 777 cargo jets and four Airbus A321 narrowbody freighters, and manages shipments carried by several passenger carriers owned by Lufthansa Group, including Austrian Airlines. It is the largest cargo carrier at Frankfurt Airport. About 80% of the airline’s global cargo volume – 1.4 million tons – flows through the Frankfurt hub.
Construction work is being carried out in phases to ensure that around-the-clock operations can continue uninterrupted, a process Lufthansa Cargo says is akin to open heart surgery. The proximity of flight operations to construction requires strict safety measures and careful coordination to avoid any disruption, according to a project fact sheet. Numerous subprojects within the facility must be carefully coordinated to prevent delays and conflicts.
The redevelopment, located in the cargo campus on the north side of Frankfurt’s airport, features a 131-foot-tall warehouse that will allow the airline to install high racks for storing pallets and an automated transport system. The new building will be the second-highest at the airport after the control tower. It is designed to improve cargo capacity and efficiency compared to facilities with low ceilings. Photos show the completed superstructure of the warehouse’s stair tower. The new construction will add 280,000 square feet of space to the cargo complex.
The warehouse will have 13 levels, offer 3,000 pallet positions and allow for up to 325 storage and retrieval operations per hour – twice the current capacity. Automated shuttle pods will move goods within the warehouse.
“For our customers, this means faster handling speeds, easier transport processes and an improvement in service quality,” Lufthansa Cargo CEO Ashwin Bhat said in a news release last year.
Contractors will use more than 3,500 tons of steel for the warehouse and conveyor system – nearly half the amount used in the Eiffel Tower.
In addition to the new building, Lufthansa Cargo is upgrading its existing cargo center through retrofits or replacement buildings.
The first parts of the automated transport system and construction of the first two building modules are expected to be completed by 2027, according to the company.
To minimize environmental impact, Lufthansa will outfit new buildings with solar panels, heat recovery systems, and efficient heating, ventilation and cooling systems.
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