Swissport has unveiled a purpose-built perishable handling center at Liège Airport—its first and only dedicated temperature-controlled facility on site—further enhancing the airport’s status as a premier European logistics hub. Operational since 1 August, the new airside installation bolsters Swissport’s flower corridor by accommodating up to 40 Unit Load Devices (ULDs) at any one time, all maintained between 2 °C and 8 °C to safeguard high-value perishables.
This bespoke perishable center complements Swissport’s third cargo terminal at Liège—opened in April 2024—which brought the company’s total cargo footprint there to 27,000 m². It is part of a broader roll-out of specialized infrastructure for segments such as perishables and eCommerce across Swissport’s network, following similar enhancements in Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Madrid, Johannesburg, and Cape Town.
Wilfried Jans, Managing Director of Swissport Belgium, remarked, “By investing in tailored cold-chain solutions, we’re delivering the speed and reliability that global supply chains demand, especially for temperature-sensitive goods like cut flowers.”
The facility’s strategic airside position enables direct transfers between arriving aircraft and cold storage, eliminating intermediate handling steps and reducing the risk of temperature deviations. Importers benefit from secure short-term storage before onward truck distribution across Europe—most notably to the Dutch flower market—while exporters enjoy accelerated loading for outbound freighters.
Dirk Goovaerts, Global Cargo Chair and CEO for Swissport’s CEMEAI region, added, “This investment cements Liège’s pivotal role in our global cool-chain corridor. Extending our pharma-grade expertise to perishables, we now offer a contiguous temperature-controlled pathway between Nairobi and Amsterdam—and beyond.”
Since initiating cargo operations at Liège in 2001, Swissport has grown to a 300-strong specialist team managing general cargo, hub and express handling, and temperature-controlled services. In 2024 alone, the company processed 400,000 tonnes of air freight and serviced over 3,850 freighter movements, underscoring its critical position at this fast-expanding gateway.
