BUD continues $30M Cargo City expansion

Budapest International Airport (BUD) is continuing the expansion of its Cargo City complex, which is set to increase its annual cargo capacity to 300,000 tonnes when completed in 2023. The airport in August invested roughly $29.8 million into the expansion of the complex, which initially opened in 2019. The additions will increase BUD’s warehouse footprint by 6,500 square meters, bringing the total to 24,500 square meters, Jozsef Kossuth, head of cargo at the airport, told Air Cargo World. The expansion includes 6,000 square meters of maneuvering and storage areas, 2,000 square meters of added office space and a 1,450-square-meter multi-functional canopy area for live animal treatment. BUD has already begun construction of a cargo apron expansion to include four code F stands, enabling the airport to handle up to four code-F aircraft like 747Fs, according to an Oct. 3 release. [caption id="attachment_57132437" align="alignright" width="1047"] BUD Cargo City. Photo/BUD[/caption] The airport will increase capacity to 240,000 tonnes at Cargo City, with an additional 60,000 tonnes at the integrator facilities of express carriers DHL, UPS and FedEx at BUD’s Terminal 1, the release stated. The integrator business segment covers about 20% of BUD’s annual cargo tonnage, Kossuth said. Expansion of the cargo apron began in August and will be completed by summer 2023. The warehouse additions began this month and will be completed by the end of 2023, Kossuth said. A provision for a future pharma center will also be established, he added, without providing further details. Skyrocketing volumes BUD saw a rapid increase in cargo volumes after the initial opening of Cargo City, Rene Droese, chief development officer at the airport, said in the release. The airport saw volumes “skyrocket” in 2021 and handled 195,000 tonnes of cargo in the 12-month period ending July 2022, a 40% increase from pre-2020 levels. BUD expects to transport 200,000 tonnes this year, Kossuth told Air Cargo World. This growth is being driven by several types of cargo, from electronics to pharmaceuticals, he said. “If we talk about commodities, the volume split is colorful,” Kossuth explained. “In Central and Eastern Europe, the cargo catchment zone of BUD, the automotive industry still has a driving role with a dynamic shift toward [electric vehicles] and parts manufacturing. But electronics, [information technology] and pharmaceutical commodities are also on the winning side of volume growth, similar to e-commerce cargo flows.” An increase in cargo operations also led to growth, most notably in e-commerce shipments. Alibaba Group’s logistics arm Cainiao Smart Logistics Network designated BUD as its East-Central European hub in April 2021, and began a five-times-weekly cargo route between BUD and Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airport (CGO) to meet growing e-commerce demand. Most recently, e-logistics and customs clearance company ViaEurope in September opened a 1,500-square-meter e-commerce facility at BUD. Join Air Cargo World for our next webinar, “Dangerous goods in focus: Shoring up air cargo logistics,” on Tuesday, Nov. 15, at 11 a.m. ET. Click here for more information and to register.

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