Construction work on Cargo Center 3 (CCN 3) at Nuremberg Airport has officially begun. The symbolic laying of the foundation stone was performed by Bavaria's Finance Minister Albert Füracker, Nuremberg's Mayor Marcus König, and the airport's managing director.
Michael Hupe and representatives of the construction company Goldbeck Ost are launching a structural expansion of the freight area. The project involves the construction of a new logistics building with approximately 6.200 square meters of gross floor area, of which about 4.600 square meters will be dedicated to storage and transshipment areas and 1.600 square meters to office space. The facility is scheduled to be operational by the end of 2027.
The expansion is taking place against the backdrop of consistently high freight traffic in northern Bavaria. At the two existing freight centers, which went into operation in 1987 and 2003, the airport currently handles over 90.000 tons of air freight annually. A significant portion of freight handling in Nuremberg is accounted for by road feeder services, which connect the regional export industry from Franconia's mechanical engineering and automotive sectors to major European hub airports.
The logistics provider CHI NUE Cargo Handling GmbH has been confirmed as the main tenant of the new complex, and will occupy parts of the warehouse and office space. The building is being constructed on an 11.800-square-meter site near the main entrance and has direct access to the apron and the customs security area. Despite the capacity expansion, market observers point out that Nuremberg's freight sector faces competition from larger freight hubs such as Frankfurt, Munich, and Leipzig/Halle. The profitability of the new building depends significantly on the sustained occupancy of the space by commercial freight customers and logistics providers.
Furthermore, fierce competition in the European freight market poses risks of fluctuating transport volumes, which depend on the general economic climate in the manufacturing sector. By creating flexible space structures, for example for the storage of temperature-sensitive goods, the airport company is attempting to adapt its portfolio to specialized transport segments. The coming years after the planned completion at the end of 2027 will show whether the location can maintain the targeted level of freight volume.