One of the world’s largest air service providers dnata is expanding its cargo operations into Germany with the planned acquisition of Germany-based Wisskirchen Handling Services (Wisskirchen). The deal, which will see dnata acquire 100% of the shares in Wisskirchen is subject to approval by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action in Germany.
The exclusive operator of the Cologne Bonn Cargo Centre, Wisskirchen offers a 12,000 sq.m. facility at Cologne Bonn Airport. It provides a full range of cargo services via a team of 180 highly-trained employees. Wisskirchen handles more than 85,000 tonnes of cargo annually, including general cargo, perishables, pharmaceuticals, dangerous goods, electronics and fast moving consumer goods.
Operating 24 hours a day, Cologne Bonn is ideally located in the heart of Northwest Europe offering excellent road connections. In 2021 cargo volumes handled at the airport increased by 14% year on year, marking a new annual record for the airport.
“We are delighted to announce dnata’s first cargo investment in Germany,” said Stewart Angus, dnata’s Regional CEO for Europe, explaining that the acquisition is part of the company’s broader investment in cargo infrastructure.
“Since 2014 we have invested in nine new cargo facilities in Europe. We look forward to playing our role in the next stage of development of Cologne/Bonn Airport as a major cargo hub.”
Meanwhile, Thilo Schmid, Chairman of the Executive Board of Cologne Bonn Airport said: “We are delighted to welcome dnata, a renowned global player in the field of airport services, to Cologne/Bonn. The commitment of dnata will help to further increase the efficiency in cargo handling in our Cargo Center and is proof of the great location quality of Cologne/Bonn Airport as well as its central importance as the most important logistics hub in NRW.”
This latest announcement from dnata follows significant investments in advanced infrastructure to enhance the company’s cargo offering in recent years. These have included the opening of a state-of-the-art cargo facilities in Manchester (UK), Karachi and Lahore (Pakistan), and additional cargo capacity in Brussels (Belgium), Sydney (Australia) and Toronto (Canada). dnata has also announced it will invest over €200 million in its operations in Amsterdam (The Netherlands), and operate one of the world’s largest and most advanced cargo facilities at Schiphol Airport. In addition, this spring it will open the second phase of the dnata City East project at London Heathrow in the UK.
