The Airport City is growing: Vienna Airport to expand its Air Cargo Center by one-third, adding 15,000 m² at a cost of € 16 million and building one of Austria’s largest rooftop photovoltaic facilities
Expanded Air Cargo Center to be put into operation by the end of 2017
Vienna Airport is making another key investment to expand its Airport City, starting construction work on enlarging its Air Cargo Center and adding one-third more space (15,000 m²). The project will be implemented at a cost of about € 16 million. The new addition should be ready for operation by the end of 2017. As part of the sustainability strategy of Flughafen Wien AG, the roof of the Air Cargo Center will be equipped with one of Austria’s largest photovoltaic facilities to generate electricity.
“The expansion of our Air Cargo Center should further improve our currently good market position as a transshipment point for air cargo. At present about 800 tonnes of freight are handled daily at the airport, or about 280,000 tonnes annually, showing a clear upward trend”, says Günther Ofner, Member of the Management Board of the airport operating company Flughafen Wien AG. “For example, half of the export production value of Lower Austrian industry of € 8 billion is transported from Vienna Airport throughout the world via air cargo. These investments are designed to generate further growth potential at the airport site and for the Austrian economy, but above all to create new jobs in the logistics sector.”
About one-half of the air cargo comes to Vienna Airport on scheduled passenger flights, whereas the remaining cargo volume is transported by special cargo aircraft. Vienna Airport sees considerable future growth potential in the coming years.
One of Austria’s largest photovoltaic facilities to be built on the roof of the Air Cargo Center
At the same time, the roof of the Air Cargo Center offers the possibility to build one of the country’s largest rooftop photovoltaic electricity generating facilities. At the present time, photovoltaic systems with an area of about 5,000 m² are already installed on the rooftops of other airport buildings. The new rooftop photovoltaic plant is designed to double existing capacity. In the summer of 2016, two photovoltaic systems with approx. 2,000 solar modules were installed on the roof of a hangar as well as on the roof of an equipment hall. Construction of another photovoltaic facility is an integral part of the sustainability strategy of Flughafen Wien AG, and will involve investments of about € 1 million.
