Europe's Air Cargo Hub in Transition
Priceless originals by the Old Masters, time-sensitive pharmaceuticals, human organs, automotive prototypes for testing in the desert or the Arctic, and semiconductors—the backbone of modern technology: They all travel around the world via Lufthansa Cargo. The Lufthansa Cargo Center (LCC) has been in operation for 43 years, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Since 1982, it has played a central role in global air freight transport. Each year, approximately 1.4 million metric tons of cargo are handled here—accounting for about 80 percent of the company’s global volume.
Now, modernization is underway. With an investment of around 600 million euros, the LCC is set to become Europe’s most modern air cargo hub—Lufthansa Cargo’s largest infrastructure project. “The work is being carried out in phases so that all on-site operations can continue uninterrupted, around the clock,” explains Nils Franz, project manager at io. “Up to 250 skilled workers are on the construction site at any given time, while behind the scenes, site managers and engineers are at work—and we’re there as logistics planners.”
Planning Partner from Day One
io has been supporting this major project as a logistics planner since the initial concept was conceived. “Air freight is time-sensitive, and often involves important cargo. A comprehensive modernization is therefore essential,” Franz continues. Although all buildings and logistics facilities have been maintained and kept operational for decades, “While they’re still robust, they’re definitely no longer up to date. The IT infrastructure also needs to be updated with a future-proof warehouse management system and material flow controls.”
The project kicked off in 2019. Two years later, construction began. A modular design and the division of the project into four main construction phases ensure that ongoing operations are maintained without disruption—which is quite challenging, as Franz admits. “The same goes for the constantly shifting security boundary between airside and landside.”
Phase Zero has already been completed. Among other things, it involved clearing and demolishing the East construction site, making adjustments to the utility lines, constructing a construction site access road, and carrying out initial upgrades to the handling system for the Road Feeder Service—that is, the road-based alternative to air freight. “Phase Alpha is intended to complete that. We’re currently in the middle of it. For example, we’re looking at a roof renovation, an expansion of the hangar capacity, and a new MLP warehouse—a small but specialized multipurpose warehouse for Euro pallets. It will be something like the LCC’s Swiss Army knife, with approximately 1,200 pallet storage spaces, a temperature-controlled pharmaceutical warehouse, a 5°C refrigerated area connected via conveyor systems, a workstation connection for loading cargo into Lean lifts, and a maintenance platform for the building services installations beneath the warehouse ceiling.”
The LCC in Numbers:
Planned project duration: 13 years
, from 2017 to 2030
Investment volume: 600 million euros
—equivalent to about 120 kilometers of highway
Construction site area: 80,000 m²
—equivalent to eleven soccer fields
Floor slab thickness of the GLP high-bay warehouse: 1.35 meters
; the curing time took 28 days
Steel used in the GLP high-bay warehouse: 3,545 metric tons
, including 715 metric tons for the conveyor system
The MLP warehouse will be the LCC’s Swiss Army knife, featuring approximately 1,200 pallet storage spaces, a pharmaceutical warehouse, a 5°C refrigerated area connected via conveyor systems, a connection for loading freight into Lean lifts, and a maintenance platform for the building services installations.
Phase Charlie 2030
By 2027, the measures of Phase Alpha will be completed. Then Phase Bravo will begin, which includes demolition work, the construction of a new building module, and the expansion of the new central material flow axis, featuring conveyor tracks spanning multiple levels. Finally, in Phase Charlie, the structural and technical infrastructure of the northern building modules will be brought up to the latest standards by 2030, marking the grand finale of this massive project. This will ensure that urgent shipments continue to reach their destinations reliably.
