Newsletter of Leipzig/Halle and Dresden Airports Our Growth Does Not Depend on Trends Airmail Interview with Dierk Näther, Managing Director of PortGround GmbH PortGround GmbH provides ground handling, freight handling and other kinds of services at Leipzig/Halle and Dresden Airports. It will also take over expanded freight services for Lufthansa Cargo at Leipzig/Halle Airport from the spring of 2009 onwards. PortGround GmbH ensures that it is operational on 365 days a year round the clock with its approximately 320 motivated and highly qualified staff and an extensive fleet of the latest vehicles and equipment for ground handling services. It is able to handle all the aircraft types in use around the globe using technological processes that up to date and meet international standards. Contents 10/2008 News from the Companies in the Mitteldeutsche Airport Holding 1 Airmail Interview with Dierk Näther, Managing Director of PortGround GmbH 2 Airports Launched Interesting Offers for the Winter Season on 26 October Leipzig/Halle Airport 3 557 Percent Growth in Freight by the Third Quarter of 2008 4 Biomonitoring with Kale and Bees Dresden International 5 First Joint Conference of Roman Catholic and Lutheran Airport Counsellors 6 Visitors Able to View the Legendary 152 Aircraft From the Region 7 8th Friedrich-List Symposium on Germany as an Air Freight Location at Leipzig/Halle Airport
Airmail: Mr Näther, PortGround moved into the World Cargo Center (WCC) on the south side of Leipzig/Halle Airport about 18 months ago. What has changed for your company since that time? Dierk Näther: The move represented a real leap forward for us. Our working area more than tripled from approx. 1,200 to 4,000 square metres and there is an extra 350 square metres of office space and social facilities. This has not only improved the technological conditions, but also working conditions which benefits our customers and our staff at the same time. By housing the warehouse handling operations in the WCC, which is airside, we are able to gain access to the aircraft faster and without any hindrances. The freight customs office at the airport is also located in the building. Since moving into the new building, the tonnage handled by PortGround has grown by approx. 70 percent. The DHL hub has provided a strong magnetic pull because Lufthansa Cargo s MD-11 aircraft arrived at the airport at the end of 2007 as a result. Page 2 Dierk Näther, Managing Director of PortGround GmbH, one of the Mitteldeutsche Airport Holding companies Airmail: Are you concerned that business may decline in the near future as a result of the economic climate? Dierk Näther: No, our growth does not depend on current trends. We are making careful preparations for our new partner, Lufthansa Cargo. We shall be taking over responsibility for the complete warehousing operations from 1 April next year. The first staff courses will start shortly to enable them to obtain the relevant Lufthansa certificates. Four new members of staff will be employed this year and there will be another 15 in 2009. We shall also invest in new technology like fork-lift trucks or pallet storage equipment because we will be handling greater volumes of freight. We are also very aware of the fact that flows of goods from the region have increased. Airmail: Winter is just around the corner and PortGround also handles de-icing services at Leipzig/Halle and Dresden Airports in the Mitteldeutsche Airport Holding. How have you been preparing for this? Dierk Näther: We currently have 18 vehicles and this makes us the third largest de-icing fleet at any German airport after Frankfurt and Munich. We shall also completely take over de-icing operations at Dresden from the coming winter season onwards after Lufthansa Technik withdrew from this line of business there. We are currently holding talks with companies to prepare the way for this work. Now that DHL is fully operational at Leipzig/Halle, we will have to handle more than 50 planes a night for the first time this winter. Initial tests with DHL at the end of September proved very successful and we hope that things will be just as smooth in real winter conditions.
Page 3 Leipzig/Halle and Dresden Airports Launched Interesting Offers for the Winter Season on 26 October The winter timetables, which are valid from 26 October until 28 March 2009, have provided some attractive new features: Air Berlin will fly to Ponta Delgada, the capital of the Azores, from Leipzig/Halle via its hub at Nuremberg every Monday starting on 3 November. This airline has also introduced new destinations from Dresden to Milan/Malpensa and Paphos on Cyprus, both of the flights also passing through Nuremberg. The timetables at Dresden International (photo) and Leipzig/Halle Airports have plenty of sunny destinations for passengers who have grown weary of the winter weather In addition to many other sunny destinations, there are 145 weekly flights from Leipzig/Halle to seven different locations in Germany, Austria (to Vienna with Austrian) and France (to Paris with Air France). Lufthansa clearly dominates the timetable with 89 weekly flights. LTU is offering a weekly non-stop flight to Punta Cana. A total of 16 airlines are operating up to 295 weekly flights to 44 destinations in eleven countries. Approximately 250 flights take off from Dresden International to 12 countries in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East during the winter timetable. 12 airlines are flying to 41 destinations, 17 of them non-stop. Air Berlin is also operating additional non-stop flights to Düsseldorf and Germanwings is doing the same to Cologne/Bonn. Lufthansa provides the highest number of departures 120 each week. 557 Percent Growth in Freight at Leipzig/Halle Airport by the Third Quarter of 2008 Leipzig Halle Airport Leipzig/Halle Airport has been able to handle 316,000 tonnes of freight during the first nine months of this year. This represents a growth rate of 557 percent over the same period last year. This means that Leipzig/Halle is now the third largest airport in Germany after Frankfurt and Cologne/Bonn in terms of the freight handled according to the German Airports Association (ADV). A large proportion of the freight volume is due to DHL. Leipzig/Halle Airport expects to have handled well over 400,000 tonnes of freight by the end of the year.
Page 4 Biomonitoring with Kale and Bees at Leipzig/Halle Kale picks up pollutants particularly effectively and this circumstance makes the plant interesting as an indicator for biomonitoring i.e. observing the pollutant situation through biological indicators. Pure kale plants, cultivated in laboratory conditions by TÜV-Süd, have been growing at eight locations next to the southern runway since October. Kale plants as biological indicators to measure possible air pollution In order to rule out any distortion from factors in the soil, the growing pots have been placed 1.50 metres above the ground. Similar experiments with kale and bee populations have already been running at Dresden Airport. The analysis of kale and honey shows the direct effects of emissions, explains Axel Semrau, manager for noise and environmental protection at Leipzig/Halle Airport. As a result, we will not only monitor the kale plants, but also set up bee hives in the spring of 2009 in order to understand the situation regarding toxic substances and make it public. First Joint Conference of Roman Catholic and Lutheran Airport Chaplains in Dresden Dresden International Nine Lutheran and eight Roman Catholic airport chaplains from the German-speaking world met for a joint conference for the first time at Dresden International Airport on 8 and 9 October. In the past the Lutheran and Roman Catholic priests used to meet twice a year independently. Airport chaplains at their first meeting in Dresden Exchanging experiences and ideas on their work at their special place of work, an airport, and particularly working together to promote ecumenism were important issues at the airport chaplains conference in Dresden. The delegates also discussed possible projects, like a joint information brochure and a stand at the Ecumenical Church Conference in Munich in 2010. Dresden Airport has had an airport chapel since the new terminal was opened in March 2001. Mass, helper evenings and the traditional New Year s service all take place in the room on the arrivals level. The airport chaplain service at Dresden also organises exhibitions and services in the terminal.
Page 5 Visitors Able to View the Legendary 152 Aircraft in Dresden The customer service department at Dresden Airport is still offering guided tours of the legendary 152 aircraft every Sunday until 16 November. The restored fuselage is located in the west wing of the terminal and can be viewed from inside. Roll-out of the 152 plane on 30 April 1958 The 90-minute guided tours start at 2.30 p.m. at the airport information desk and include a trip across the apron in the apron bus. The tour costs 8.50 for adults. Children and school pupils pay 5.50. The maximum number of people on any tour is 20. It is essential to book places in advance by phone. 2008 is the 50th anniversary of the roll-out and maiden flight of the 152, the first German commercial aircraft powered by jet engines. The machine built by the Dresden Aircraft Works took off on its first flight on 4 December 1958. The development of the 152 formed the basis for today s successful aerospace industry in the Saxon city. The airport, the Transport Museum and local aerospace companies are celebrating the jubilee with several special events. 4 December 2008, for example, has been devoted to the 152. Visitors will be able to admire the fuselage and other exhibits from the Transport Museum on the anniversary of the maiden flight. There are also plans to screen an historic film advertising the 152. From the Region 8th Friedrich-List Symposium on Germany as an Air Freight Location at Leipzig/Halle Airport The Friedrich-List-Forum Dresden e.v. in conjunction with the Mitteldeutsche Airport Holding, Flughafen Leipzig/Halle GmbH, DHL and Lufthansa Cargo AG is holding the 8th Friedrich-List Symposium at Leipzig/Halle Airport on 13 and 14 November 2008. The title of the conference is Germany as an Air Freight Location Opportunities and Challenges. The problems that exist will be scientifically examined taking the example of Leipzig/Halle Airport in the context of theory and practice and the aim is to derive beneficial information for the transport sector in Germany from this work. The main themes will be the market and competition in the air freight sector, integrated logistics (intermodal links and electronic data transmission
applications), infrastructure development on the ground and in the air and environmental aspects in the air cargo sector. Page 6 The symposium is directed at the complete aviation sector, from industrial companies to logistics service providers and even transport companies that operate intermodal services, scientists and students in the transport and logistics sector, parliamentarians and members of staff on transport administrative bodies at federal, state and local authority level. Plenty of time will be made available, not just for specialist lectures, but also to discuss issues that have been raised. A special excursion to the DHL hub in Leipzig, an accompanying industrial exhibition and an evening event designed to promote personal dialogue at Leipzig/Halle Airport will round off the symposium and allow participants to make contact with delegates from many fields and exchange ideas. Imprint Published by: Mitteldeutsche Airport Holding Edited by: Photos: Design: Production: Felix Zimmermann (chief editor) Dr. Robert Kluge, Evelyn Schuster, Petra Siebert, Dierk Näther, Uwe Schuhart, Christian Adler, Nadia Zitouni, Juliane Kramp, Christoph Tichelkamp Archives at Flughafen Leipzig/Halle, Archiv Flughafen Dresden, Deutsche Lufthansa AG, EADS CH Mediendesign Medienbüro am Reichstag Please send any queries, comments or suggestions to: Felix.Zimmermann@mdf-ag.com, phone: +49 (0) 341-224-10 86