FedEx to expand express capacity in Milan

As it moves forward with its planned takeover of TNT, FedEx Express made moves to strengthen its presence in Europe by launching a US$112 million expansion at Milan Malpensa Airport. The expansion, measuring 115,000 square feet, is scheduled to be completed sometime in mid-2016 and will accommodate the first daily courier connection from Italy to the United States.

FedEx said it expects the facility’s staff of 200 to handle 20,000 express shipments each day, coordinate 44 weekly flights to and from Malpensa, and manage 480 connections by land. The facility is expected to become FedEx’s third-largest hub in Europe, behind Paris and Cologne. Almost 50,000 square feet of the facility, known as Cargo City, will be dedicated to warehousing, 66,000 square feet to vehicle parking and 3,300 square feet to office space.

Malpensa currently handles about 500,000 tonnes of cargo each year, and said it hopes to double that number to 1 million tonnes within two years. SEA Group, which operates Malpensa and Milan Linate Airport, is investing US$16.85 million into the Cargo City project.

The recent expansion investments are part of FedEx’s overall strategy of opening more than 100 new courier service branches in three years across the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region. So far, the company has opened 24 new branches in less than three years, created 300 jobs  and introduced the “first and only direct flight from Italy to the FedEx global hub in Memphis, Tennessee,” said Vito Bernardi, Fedex’s managing director for properties and fleet, EMEA.

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