Infrastructure expansion near LEJ continues with Panattoni logistics center project

Today, Airport Development A/S – the owners and operators of Airport Park Leipzig Halle – announced that U.S.-based real estate developer Panattoni Corporation will construct “The Panattoni Logistics Center” at the airport park adjacent to Leipzig International Airport (LEJ) in Germany.

Panattoni is investing €40 million into the construction project, which will be built on a 114,500 square-meter parcel of land the company acquired from Airport Park Leipzig Halle. The Panattoni Logistics Center will include 51,000 square meters of hall space, 2,000 square meters of office space and 3,400 square meters of mezzanine space. Construction for the project is set to begin in late summer this year, with the facilities expected to open in early 2021.

Airport Development A/S board chairman Dieter Vornhagen said that the investment is a clear sign of the confidence this world-leading logistics real estate developer has for LEJ and the surrounding area. LEJ is increasingly recognized as a major e-commerce and cargo airport, given the numerous tier one automotive and other manufacturing clusters in its surrounding area, as well as a consumer population of over 17 million people within 1.5 hours of the airport, he said.

Recently, Airport Park Leipzig Halle has also secured three other deals with Autohof 24 Group, Max Weishaupt Industries and Austrian Raiffeisenlandesbank Oberösterreich – Autohof 24 Group will build a large scale auto-stop and trucking park on 45,000 square meters of land at the park; Max Weishaupt Industries has acquired 15,000 square meters of land for development, but has not yet announced details regarding these plans; and Austrian Raiffeisenlandesbank Oberösterreich has acquired a 28,000 square meter building on the park property, with details regarding plans for the building also yet to be determined. All three companies have already indicated further purchases that are currently under consideration with a number of building permits expected to be issued shortly, according to Airport Development A/S.

In 2018, LEJ handled over 1.2 million tonnes of cargo, a 7.3 percent increase over the year prior, and earned the rank of no. 23 on this year’s Cargo Airport News annual top 25 busiest cargo airports list. Expansion plans announced in January of this year by AeroLogic, CargoLogic Germany and DHL Express also suggest the airport is a growing hotspot for cargo in Europe.

Local authorities are working to make LEJ an attractive destination for carrier and integrator operations with special policies, including quality-dependent deductions landing fees, as an incentive to increase the use of LEJ’s infrastructure. The deductions apply to all carriers, but are only effective for low-noise aircraft as outlined in the airport’s regulations on fees for aviation.

LEJ also has room to expand with 1,400 hectares of development space available in its immediate vicinity, with additional surrounding logistics parks, such as Airport Park Leipzig Halle. Compared to neighboring European airports that are suffering from congestion and capacity issues, this benefit is attractive for air cargo logistics providers looking to expand their operations.