The Bucher Group's new Cargo Center at Frankfurt-Hahn airport was opened on November 22. There were over 160 guests including aviation companies, industry representatives and government officials. After a six months construction period, the 6,800 sq. m. cargo warehouse, with a modern office building located directly on the apron, is now in operation.

The Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board of Fraport AG and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Flughafen Hahn GmbH, Professor Dr. Manfred Sch'lch, congratulated Chief Executive Gerhard Bucher. 'The timing of the completion of your modern cargo center fits exactly the startup of the extended runway, which can now finally begin. The extension of the runway is an essential requirement for the further development of Frankfurt-Hahn airport as a cargo airport. Now, intercontinental flights can operate to Frankfurt-Hahn without any restrictions. The airport and this new cargo center both benefit from this development.'

The primary investor is the Bucher-group, a medium-sized company group based in Kr'v at the Moselle. Bucher's logistics company is one of the pioneers at Frankfurt-Hahn airport. He has been active at Hahn since 1993. 'With the construction of the modern cargo center I have developed another future-oriented field of activity for my company. I am glad that I, together with Fraport Cargo Services (FCS) and the airport, can further activities in a strongly increasing aircargo market.' said Gerhard Bucher.

The investment for the new terminal, which is constructed according to the latest security standards and is linked to the apron system, totals about 6 M. Euro. The whole area, including the warehouse and the large allocation area under the huge canopy, is controlled by a CCTV-system and corresponds to the security requirements of international customers. A deep freezer room as well a cold storage room for perishable goods represent only some of the special facilities. The modern energy supply is based on an automatic, non-polluting wood chip heating with oil heating in reserve.

The modern air-conditioned office building has an area of about 1,400 sq. m. It will be used mainly by customers, for example, airlines and forwarding agents.

FCS will be the main tenant of the building in cooperation with the Bucher-subsidiary Hahn Cargo Services (HCS).

The new warehouse will allow more efficient handling of aircargo in the future. Customers have already announced more cargo volume under the new conditions. In 2006, HCS will handle about 36,000 tons of aircargo during its second business year and expects a very positive development. This is demonstrated by the number of employees, which climbed from 20 employees in the beginning of 2006, to about 50 employees at the end of 2006. 'I expect that we will achieve the capacity limit of our new warehouse during next year. We reckon that in 2007 we will handle about 85,000 to 90,000 tons. For this we will recruit around 80 employees out of the region,' said Gerhard Bucher.

FCS and Bucher look to a bright future. The company holds an option for further expansion in the neighbouring area.