Leipzig/Halle Airport: the growth engine in Central Germany at-tends the EXPO REAL 2021
Together with guests from the worlds of politics and business, the CEO of MFAG, Götz Ahmelmann, was highlighting the airport’s success story, but warned, “The market punishes those who arrive too late!”
Leipzig/Halle Airport is booming just like the city of Leipzig. It is attracting international companies from a wide variety of sectors and property developers as the nucleus of a constantly growing logistics cluster at the heart of Central Germany. Major firms like Porsche, BMW or Beiersdorf already have business operations very close to the airport. More than 11,000 employees work at 120 companies based at the airport itself. DHL’s largest hub anywhere in the world also has its home base there – and it is also the first European air freight hub for Amazon. Further companies are due to launch business operations, particularly those in the logistics and air freight sectors.
“We’ve set ourselves ambitious goals for continuing to develop the airport site,” said Konrad Best, Head of Business Development at the Central German airports, during a special forum at the Expo Real. There are plans for a new aircraft manufacturer to set up its business operations at the airport, for example. The Central German airports are engaging in research related to digitalisation in the logistics sector. The site also provides space for test areas in the field of mobility and alternative energy sources. A special innovation zone is due to be created in the central area at the airport. “Leipzig/Halle Airport is an Eastern German success story and we’re continuing to write it,” says the CEO of Mitteldeutsche Flughafen AG, Götz Ahmelmann.
There are still extensive opportunities for companies to launch business operations at the site. But any firm that wishes to be part of the rapid developments at the airport needs to act quickly. Leipzig/Halle Airport is already the second-largest cargo airport in Germany. Freight volumes at the airport amounted to approx. 1.4 million tonnes during the pandemic year of 2020 – and they represent an increase of 11.7 percent compared to the previous year. Overall, more than 80 cargo airlines fly to the airport and operate to more than 270 destinations around the globe from Leipzig. The airport company will make investments totalling hundreds of millions of euros in its cargo operations during the next few years. Attractive industrial and commercial space will also be developed as part of this process.
Passenger traffic and the cargo airport have excellent links with motorways and railway lines. This multimodality is one of the crucial site benefits for local companies in Leipzig/Halle. It is enlarging the circle of interested firms that will discover their corporate future at the airport.
What is more, important future markets in the global economy are located to the east – in Russia, China and the Asia-Pacific region. Leipzig/Halle Airport provides the best starting point for intelligently distributing international cargo traffic thanks to its generous infrastructure and its central geographical location.
These conditions are unique in Germany and give Leipzig/Halle Airport a crucial competitive advantage. The whole of Central Germany is benefitting from this. “Leipzig/Halle Airport forms the heart and economic driving force for a complete region. The rapid growth of the airport, particularly in its cargo operations, is attracting the attention of those looking for business settlement opportunities from within Germany and internationally to the business site in the core Central German region of Leipzig and Halle,” State Secretary, Dr Jürgen Ude, State Secretary in the Ministry for Economic Affairs, Science and Digitalisation in the State of Saxony-Anhalt, said at the EXPO REAL. The authorised representative of the Free State of Saxony with the federal government, State Secretary Conrad Clemens, also praised the development of Leipzig/Halle Airport at the trade fair. He believes that the airport is guaranteeing prosperity and economic growth in Leipzig, Saxony and the complete Central German region.
About Mitteldeutsche Flughafen AG
Mitteldeutsche Flughafen AG has three subsidiaries: Leipzig/Halle Airport, Dresden Airport and PortGround.
Leipzig/Halle Airport handled 532,690 passengers and approx. 1.38 million tonnes of air freight during 2020. This makes it Germany's second-largest cargo airport. The airport is connected to the A9 and A14 motorways and has a railway station that forms an integral part of the central terminal. This ensures that passengers from Central Germany and beyond can reach the airport directly.
Dresden Airport handled 385,651 passengers in 2020. A link to the A4 motorway and a local railway station in the terminal ensure that passengers from the catchment areas in Saxony, the south of Brandenburg, the north of the Czech Republic and western Poland can reach the airport and leave it again in comfort.
PortGround offers ground, freight and other extensive handling services at Leipzig/Halle and Dresden Airports round the clock.
Leipzig/Halle Airport is represented as a premium partner with its own lounge area at the trade fair stand of the Central German Metropolitan Region at the EXPO REAL 2021.
About the Central German Metropolitan Region:
Key structure-defining companies, towns or cities and rural districts, chambers and associations as well as universities and research institutes in Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia are involved in the European Central German Metropolitan Region.
The Central German Metropolitan Region’s joint stand at the EXPO REAL 2021 has a new visual appearance and more space at a new and attractive trade fair site. The region is represented in hall C1/220 near the well-visited stands of the State of Thuringia and the State of Lower Saxony as well as the Hanover/Braunschweig/ Göttingen/Wolfsburg metropolitan region, the Hanover metropolitan region, the Rhine/Neckar area and the city of Frankfurt/Main at the EXPO REAL 2021.
About the EXPO REAL:
The EXPO REAL is Europe’s largest specialist trade fair for property and investments and maps the complete value-added chain within the sector. More than 1,200 exhibitors have already confirmed that they will attend this year’s edition of the trade fair. The conference programme will focus on the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and climate protection this year. You can obtain more information here: www.exporeal.net