Brussels Airport to invest €200M, create 3,000 new jobs

[Charlie_Fox]

I think CNC has it about right. Unless the markets generally improve a lot then the investment in
Brucargo is wasted. There is already plenty of excess capacity at Aviapartner and Flightcare/Swissport, the two handlers. What makes Brussels Airport think that cargo carriers are going to come (back) to Brussels?
Huge increase in Belgocontrol fees for next year (very attractive!)? Big fines for taking off over Brussels region (even during the day!)? Forget it.

[galaxy]

Btw, about Janssen Pharmaceutica: it's Beerse, not Turnhout (it's the region of Turnhout, but let's be correct, I live partly in Beerse and I don't want to hear that they are situated in Turnhout as it's the only big company in Beerse to be proud of, haha ).

That's correct,but you can not denie that the roots of Dr. Janssen and his company was situated in the Statiestraat in Turnhout

[RoMax]

That's correct,but you can not denie that the roots of Dr. Janssen and his company was situated in the Statiestraat in Turnhout

Yes indeed but the company moved to Beerse only a few years after it started under the current form (because it didn't have the room to expand in Turnhout), making Beerse the center of Belgian pharmaceutical R&D (and partly production) offering jobs to hundreds of highly educated people.
It's one of the Belgian companies that has A LOT of business traffic to big pharmaceutical 'hubs' like Boston. But also Jet Airways for exemple is quite happy with Janssen, because of the high amount of well education Indian people working for companies like Janssen (when you pass the buss stops at Janssen in the morning and the evening, you would think you are in India sometimes), they also have nice contracts with India to protect historical sites.

I think CNC has it about right. Unless the markets generally improve a lot then the investment in Brucargo is wasted. There is already plenty of excess capacity at Aviapartner and Flightcare/Swissport, the two handlers. What makes Brussels Airport think that cargo carriers are going to come (back) to Brussels?
Huge increase in Belgocontrol fees for next year (very attractive!)? Big fines for taking off over Brussels region (even during the day!)? Forget it.

One of the biggest investments (the 3 new buildings at Brucargo West) doesn't seem to be wasted as they already have customers for the buildings (the first one is already in use, the second will be fully used by DHL and the 3rd seems on the good way as well). A big part of the other investments are about renovating the current (old) infrastructure to bring it back up to the highest international level. A 3rd part of the investment is increasing airside capacity indeed, and indeed it stays the question if this will be worth the investment (but it's a long term investment and the overal expection is that air freight will grow significantly in the future). So BRU has to prepare for the future and they don't have to give up on a potential highly profitable sector. The infrastructure of BRU (and the improved road infrastructure around the airport) is only part of the whole story of course, but that doesn't mean BRU has to stand still. Big cargo airports like AMS, FRA,... all face HUGE dificulties (like the ban on night flights for FRA), it's not that BRU is the only airport having these troubles. AMS for exemple seems to do well for the outside world, but internally they have their own big problems as well. Does that mean they stand still in doing new investments? Not at all. BRU is much smaller, but doesn't have to stand still either.

[galaxy]

A little off-topic :

But also Jet Airways for exemple is quite happy with Janssen, because of the high amount of well education Indian people working for companies like Janssen (when you pass the buss stops at Janssen in the morning and the evening, you would think you are in India sometimes), they also have nice contracts with India to protect historical sites.

Something to do with this ? :

Ajit Shetty is an Indian-Belgian businessman, who was born in Nellore, India, on 20 May 1946. He was Chairman of the Board of Directors of Janssen Pharmaceutica, a pharmaceutical company and subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, with its headquarters in Beerse, Belgium, until February 2012, when he retired. Shetty also served as a member of the Corporate Center Group Operating Committee and Vice President, Enterprise Supply Chain for Johnson & Johnson of New Brunswick, New Jersey, in the United States.
He is married to Christine Clerinx, a niece of the founder of Janssen Pharmaceutica, the late Paul Janssen.

[RoMax]

The fact that he had very good relations with the Janssen family probably helped him to get higher in the company. But besides that he's simply a very good business man, when he started working for Janssen the company was no longer in the hands of the Janssen family but of the American company Johnson&Johnson. He became not only managing director and chairman of Janssen Pharmaceutica, but also member of the Corporate Center Group Operating Committee and President director of Supply Chain for Johnson&Johnson.
For the Janssen-India relationship he probably was (and still is?) of very high value. Some years ago he received a life time achievement award in India, in Belgium he was rewarded the title of Baron and some years earlier Manager of the Year.

But to come back on topic... Belgium is already one of the most important countries in the world in the pharmaceutical and bio-industry (mainly R&D, Janssen en sister-company Tibotec for exemple are world renown for their medication against HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C (for which they work with companies and R&D-centers in Boston, ask Lufthansa, they know everything about it as they welcome many of these people in their bussiness class...), but also production of high value products and medical systems), if Belgium continues to invest in this sector, BRU can't stay behind. They have to specialize in this sector or they'll lose it to Germany, the Netherlands or France who would welcome such a high profile industry with open arms.

The pharmaceutical and bio industry help both passenger flights (Johnson&Johnson's headquarter is near NYC to say something) and cargo flights to/from Belgium at this moment and this will only increase in the future. Time to invest for BRU, like they are doing, because this a sector of high value. Still I'm curious which is that 'big' company that will use that building at Brucargo West.

(Of course this is not worth the full 200 million investment, but at least a part of it, in my idea it's smart of BRU they want to develop that sector as one of the specialities)

[sn26567]

You forget Glaxo Smith Kline, which hzs in Belgium the largest manufacturing facility for vaccines in the world and an equally important research centre for vaccines, respectively in Wavre and Rixensart. And UCB in Braine l'Alleud.

[RoMax]

You forget Glaxo Smith Kline, which hzs in Belgium the largest manufacturing facility for vaccines in the world and an equally important research centre for vaccines, respectively in Wavre and Rixensart. And UCB in Braine l'Alleud.

Yeay of course, you have quite some world renown companies in Belgium active in this sector, some are bigger than others. I talked about Janssen Pharmaceutics because I live next to the company to say so and I know quite some people working at the company and Janssen is the biggest Belgian pharmaceutical company (and also has some smaller sister-companies like Tibotec which are not directly owned by Janssen, but through mothercompany Johnson&Johnson, Tibotec btw is a very good exemple of a company that was launched by ex-Janssen employees in the '90s, but taken over by Johnson&Johonson again about 10 years ago).

Anyway, bottomline is, this sector is huge in Belgium (and contrary to many other sectors, both Flanders and Wallonia have a strong position in this instead of just one of the two regions) and of huge value for the Belgian aviation. It helps filling business class for the pax airlines and it's of high value for the cargo airlines in Belgium (to state it very simple).

[Atlantis]

Sorry for being arrogant now but what we could read here mostly is so stupid, really.
Most comments were given by no single knowledge, no single....

This investment of 200 million euro in Brucargo was decided already many year ago. It was the former shareholder Macquarie Airports who decided, after attracting more pax, to invest in cargo.
The Canadian Pension Funds took this whole plan over without any restrictions.

Brucargo West was founded at least 5 years ago. The first building was ready in 2009. The second building, exclusively for DHL, will be finished at the end of this month.
The third building, the part for this pharma client, will be ready in March 2013!!!! The other part of the same third building will be build after when other customers signed their contract. And yes, these are also big ones.
This whole part was already part in this whole investment of 200 million euro!!!! So do not think that it is all new.

The two major handling buildings, airside, will be build between 2014 and 2015 AND this only when economy will be better again. Not before. So also this money is foreseen.
Also this plan is to strech the cargo appron till the highway of Brussels. Do not be surprised, it was foreseen.

Building 706 will be refurbised. Floor 6 is already finished and some big cargo players will move with their offices to building 706 instead of being in those handling buildings.

The old buildings on Brucargo will be renewed.

Also the fly over with direct connection with the E19 was also in this plan.
The Brucargo Secured Gate was a project for so many years ago and a lot of Brucargo partners are involved. More will be visible the next coming months.

Brussels Airport and Brucargo has to be ready, simple. And what we can read about fees and night flights is all rubbish.
Brussels Airport is a very modern and becoming more and more Green Airport. So they ask their customers to participate also in this to buy more quiet and fuel efficient planes. We see now more B777F on the tarmac. Soon we will see also the B748F. Brucargo is ready to receive them.
Older planes will be replaced by the customers itselfs.
Good customers receive a discount, so do not tell me sth about higher fees etc etc.
The cargo players at Brucargo don't need at this moment night flights to Brussels Airport. Their whole network is foreseen on it that they can fly to BRU on a daytime basis.

[sn26567]

I tend to agree with Atlantis. I was invited to the press conference, but could not attend because of other obligations. Therefore I went to the offices of Brussels Airport in the satellite (nicely refurbished offices, by the way) the day before the press conference to have a private conversation with the spokesman of Brussels Airport, Jan Van der Cruysse. He confirmed to me all what Atlantis writes. The investments in Brucargo are in no way directed against LGG.

Among other statements, he told me that for every 100 tonnes transiting through Brucargo one job is created. BRU has approximately 5% of European freight traffic, but for pharmaceuticals this raises to 11%, hence the importance to take good care of that sector.

Some of the work is really needed due to the old age of some existing buildings. The construction will integrate the most modern technologies, such as the optical recognition of licence plates of lorries allowed inside the perimeter of Brucargo (land side).

[cnc]

The cargo players at Brucargo don't need at this moment night flights to Brussels Airport. Their whole network is foreseen on it that they can fly to BRU on a daytime basis.

you are joking right? i know atleast 2 operators that aren't too happy with the night curfew and what about getting new operators?
and about the "green airport", no airline cares about that. if they buy greener airplanes its only because its giving them more profit

[actarus]

Hello can etres it is except subjects but Swissport goes or which one already begun to build are new buildings(ships) in brucargo I ask if there is still of the place(square) for new constructions

[flightlover]

Hello can etres it is except subjects but Swissport goes or which one already begun to build are new buildings(ships) in brucargo I ask if there is still of the place(square) for new constructions

I guess you want to know if Swissport is building a new building or if they are going to do this and if there is some space left for that?

As far as I know there are no plans to do so by either AP or Swissport. They do, most likely, both have options on the handling buildings to be build by the Brussels airport company.

Why they don't build themselves you might think?
The answer is that BAC has decided that unlike before they are going to maximize revenue from facilities. They used to lease only land to customers on which they where able to build themselves. Now they lease buildings to those same customers, making more revenue/profit from it.

[Atlantis]

The cargo players at Brucargo don't need at this moment night flights to Brussels Airport. Their whole network is foreseen on it that they can fly to BRU on a daytime basis.

you are joking right? i know atleast 2 operators that aren't too happy with the night curfew and what about getting new operators?
and about the "green airport", no airline cares about that. if they buy greener airplanes its only because its giving them more profit

It's not a joke, it's a fact. BRU is not an exception in Europe if it comes to the operators they have at this moment. BTW, two of the biggest users of Brucargo are using the nightcurfew from time to time.
Only DHL is a big user during the night but the current users don't ask for it at the moment. BTW they also don't ask it either at AMS or FRA where they also fly.

About the Green Airport. You like it or not, but this is also a fact. When Brussels Airport will grow like it wants then they have to take care also about then envirionment. And environment are also people around the airport. New airplanes are more quiet even cargo ones. So bigger ones like the B777F and B748F are more then welcome.
If you want to keep those action groups a little bit down then you have to do it.
Sorry to say, but if you cannot cope with it, leave it then. Brussels Airport wants safe, good and quiet airplanes. And about the noise and nightcurfews, sorry to say also but this excists already for years. No single operator moved away due to this. So it means that it is not the biggest issue for them.

[Mavke]

Hellow,

its great to read al those nice stories on this forum ,....

last month we had to say goodbye to Aerologic who operated 3-4 days a week to bahrein and hongkong ....
the main reason was the departure time .... they had to leave before 23.00 and that was to early .
they were asking for a departure time around 01.00 with a B777F but that was not possible , so tell me , wil this change in the future ?? i have a feeling that the aswer wil be NO .....

ken

[Atlantis]

Aerologic is operating for DHL.

[Atlantis]

I don't know if it was posted already who will be the pharma group who will take a part in this third building at Brucargo West.
It is the American pharma group St. Jude Medical. They will deploy their new European distribution hub at Brucargo.
They will use 1900 m² of offices and 6000 m² of warehouses.

For the other free space of 10.000 m² are several candidates interested.