WE ARE THE NIGHTLIFE OF COLOGNE

DHL has been based at Cologne Bonn Airport since 1987. In the beginning, air freight was sorted by hand in a tent on the apron. As freight volumes grew, the site became a hub within the DHL network in 1997. With the completion of the Leipzig hub (LEJ HUB), the Cologne branch was temporarily converted into a gateway, which resulted in a massive reduction in staff.

In 2013, however, the decision was made within the network to restructure Cologne and other locations in Europe back into a hub. The reasons for this were the local conditions at the airport, which are ideal for the network. Very good weather conditions and the existing night flight permit have made the CGN HUB a very efficient "alternative airport" for Leipzig. Ideal road connections to the Benelux countries complete the advantages and importance of the location.

Over the years, the Cologne site has steadily expanded and reached its temporary peak with the opening of the new freight hall in 2019. The location's most important unique selling point is its proximity to the DHL Group headquarters in Bonn. For this reason, the hub is also known as "Headquarter Airport".

DHL Airways operates the CGN HUB at three locations around the airport. The cargo hall and associated operations offices are located in the aviation security area to the south of the passenger terminals. Anyone wishing to enter or approach the hall must first pass through the security checkpoints. All vehicles and people arriving by road are checked here before being escorted to the cargo hall by pilot vehicles. 

Hangar 2 is also located in the security area, where the Network Control Group rooms and the pilots' break rooms are located.

The offices of the general administration, management and customs department of the CGN HUB have been located outside the security area in Waldstrasse since 2023. The limited space in the aviation security area and the difficult accessibility due to security checks have led to the spatial expansion of the location.

The CGN HUB is mainly connected by air to destinations in Europe. The most important connection is Leipzig, with three flights per night. However, there is also a direct connection from Hong Kong, which ensures that freight from Asia can be distributed more quickly in western Europe. It arrives at CGN HUB in the afternoon. There are almost 30 flight movements per day.

By road, the CGN HUB is connected to several gateways and service centers in western Germany, including Cologne, Düsseldorf and Koblenz. The catchment area extends to Bremen in the north and to Nuremberg in the east. Several destinations in the Benelux countries and France are also served. In total, there are over 80 traffic movements every day.

The new hall, which took 18 months to plan and around two years to build, sets new standards in many areas. It was completed in 2019 in accordance with the latest standards and at an investment cost of 123 million euros. The new building has a fully automated sorting system with a total length of around 2.5 km. This can sort up to 20,000 items per hour at a speed of up to 2.7 m per second.

On average, around 38,500 consignments are sorted in Cologne every night and around 5,200 every day. The various operations departments are spread over two floors of the building with a total area of 12,000 m².

Fully automated scanners are able to screen the freight exclusively with the help of artificial intelligence and make it airtight. This ensures that the shipments do not contain any prohibited items, concealed dangerous goods, explosive devices or even bombs.

Particular attention was paid to sustainability during the construction of the freight hall. The building has one of the largest ice storage systems in Germany underneath. This system enables completely climate-neutral and emission-free heating and cooling of the hub. This eliminates the need for fossil fuels. The ice storage system is powered by a photovoltaic system. This feeds the electricity generated into the airport's network and can thus be offset against the electricity required at night.

The vehicle fleet of the CGN HUB also consists almost entirely of electric vehicles, which can be charged at the airport's own charging stations.

The CGN HUB is managed by Detlef Schmitz (left) and his deputy Angelo Mule (right). In his position as Managing Director, Detlef has been responsible for all business areas for the site since 2013, in addition to corporate management and strategic decisions. He is supported by Angelo, who represents the hub's largest department in his role as Operations Director. Since 2019, he has been responsible for hundreds of employees in logistics and shares his experience from all areas of operations.  

Having started in 1997 as Operations Agents and developing to management heads, they both serve as role models for the numerous development opportunities at CGN HUB.