Zurich Airport, May 18, 2010

Zurich Airport celebrates 10 years as a cargo hub

Together with representatives from industry and the world of politics, Cargologic AG, Flughafen Zürich AG and Swiss International Air Lines Ltd. are coming together on May 18, 2010 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Zurich Airport's cargo hub.

"Ten years ago, Cargologic took over the freight terminal from what was then Swisscargo. The freight hub is an indispensable transhipment centre for the safe, reliable and rapid shipment of freight for import and export. In terms of value, over 30% of all freight in Switzerland is exported by air. This makes the freight hub at Zurich Airport an important factor in Switzerland's success as a business location," explains Peter Widmer, Chairman of the Cargologic Board of Directors.

Guests of the celebration will have a unique opportunity to take a look behind the scenes of the freight hub. They will be able to experience the impressive variety of consignments and the implementation of comprehensive safety and security regulations. They will also see freight handling in action as shipments are loaded, and can thus witness the perfect interplay of a wide variety of logistics-related factors.

Cargologic handles airfreight consignments of all shapes and sizes with great skill and care on a 43,000 square metre site.

Member of the Council of States Rolf Büttiker will give a talk at the event on the importance of airfreight for Switzerland. In addition, Flughafen Zürich CEO Thomas E. Kern, Swiss International Air Lines CEO Harry Hohmeister, and Chairman of the Cargologic Board of Directors Peter Widmer will provide more information on the value and the future of the freight hub.

Rolf Büttiker stresses that "airfreight is a decisive competitive factor for Switzerland as an industry location. It strengthens the economy and secures jobs. For 70% of companies, the airfreight handling services at Swiss airports are a basic requirement for their products to be shipped to Asia, the Middle East and North and South America."

Airfreight is mostly carried on passenger planes.  "The freight hub is very important for us: a large number of medium and long-distance flights would not be profitable without airfreight, or else the tickets would become so expensive as to make flying a real luxury," says Harry Hohmeister, CEO of Swiss International Air Lines.

His comments are underlined by Thomas E. Kern, CEO AG of Zurich Airport: "We provide our airport partners with the best possible conditions for their business activities. We provide Cargologic with a building and an energy supply. Airfreight is particularly important to us, which is why we are investing in it: currently, for example, we are building a new logistics warehouse."

Leader in airfreight handling
Cargologic is the market leader in airfreight ground handling in Switzerland. Its 600 or so employees handle up to 500,000 tons of airfreight per year. The company is represented at airports in Switzerland (Zurich, Basel, Berne, Lugano), Germany (Frankfurt) and, through its sister company Skylink, also in Amsterdam and Brussels. Cargologic offers airlines and forwarders tailor-made solutions for all airfreight handling orders. This includes the handling of import, export and transit shipments, as well as special consignments and security checks for air freight. Cargologic also runs a bonded warehouse at Zurich Airport with over 6000m2 of space.

Cargologic and Skylink are Rhenus Group companies
The Rhenus Group has an annual turnover of EUR 2.7 billion, making it
one of the world’s leading providers of logistics services. It has some
16,300 employees based at 290 locations worldwide. Rhenus’s Contract Logistics, Freight Logistics, Port Logistics and Public Transport divisions manage complex supply chains and provide innovative value-added services.