WFS wins tender to operate at Atlanta airport

The giant air cargo handler Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) won its tender to operate Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport’s (ATL) new Cargo Building C, just a day after the airport signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS).

ATL, plus other recent expansions in Europe and New York, will add an additional 700,000 square feet to WFS’s sprawling international footprint as the handler expands its North American network into Georgia – “a key part of the airport’s multi-billion dollar master plan to accommodate the future aviation needs of the region,” WFS said in a statement.

“As the biggest handler in North America, present at over 60 major airports, Atlanta has been a significant gap in our network,” Mike Simpson, WFS’ Executive Vice President Americas, said in a press release.

The cargo handler took a long term lease on the 140,000 square foot facility – its exact duration remains unspecified – where operations will begin at the end of this year. The building includes 2,500 square feet dedicated to cooling facilities for storing pharmaceuticals and other perishable goods.

The Atlanta airport’s recent MoU, signed at Air Cargo Europe in Munich, is expected to increase connectivity and cooperation between the two airports and “increase exports from ATL to AMS of agricultural and manufacturing goods produced in Georgia, which will be measured by an economic impact assessment study due in 2021,” the airports said in a statement. Last year, cargo volumes at ATL rose 4.7% year-over-year, after rising 7.5% the year before. ATL also won the Diamond Award for Medium-sized Airports (400,000 to 999,999 tonnes) in this year’s Air Cargo Excellence Awards.