Cargo City construction at Budapest Airport

Design and permitting works for Budapest Airport’s latest major development project, an air cargo hub called the Cargo City, are progressing at full speed. The 11 000 square meters of warehouse space and the adjoining 5000 square meters of office space – the first phase of the development – has been leased up to 80 % to two major ground handling companies at the airport.

The future cargo terminals, expected to be ready by 2012

The construction of the Cargo City is scheduled to commence in a few months’ time, in September 2011 in the Southeastern part of Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport, on the side of runway II facing towards Vecsés. The airport operator has set itself the goal of constructing a brand new air cargo center. As a first step, a 5000 square meter international postal exchange facility was completed for the Hungarian Post last October. The developments did not end there; the construction of the Cargo City is set to continue in two phases, in each of which an air cargo facility of 11 000 plus 5000 square meters will be executed.

Budapest Airport has already managed to agree with two major ground handling companies, Celebi Ground Handling and Malév. More than 80 percent of the facility has thus been leased, with Budapest Airport’s Business Unit Property holding additional negotiations for the utilization of the remaining area.

„Developments will not stop with the completion of the first phase of Cargo City as the preparations of the second phase are in full blast” said René Droese, Property Director of Budapest Airport. „The project received very positive feedback from the market, which is clearly indicated by the quick commitment of our two big business partners. Cargo City offers a lot of advantages for the local community by creating new job and business opportunities, boosts the economy of the entire Southern Budapest region around the airport.”

The development will enable Budapest Airport to serve the needs of cargo airlines at significantly higher standards, as the new Cargo City will replace the outdated facilities located near Terminal 1. The project will have positive impact at several levels, bringing both operational and environmental benefits for air cargo operators, whose trucks will have direct access to the M0 and M4 motorways from the facility without going to downtown areas.

The first phase of the project will be completed by the fall of 2012, but there is a large area available for development on the side of the airport facing towards Vecsés. According to estimates, this approximately 2 kilometer long stretch of airport land is big enough to accommodate facilities with a capacity to handle as much as 2.5 million tons of cargo per year, about thirty times of the current level. The development will create jobs and open up additional investment opportunities around the airport.