French container transportation and shipping company, CMA CGM Group’s new air freight division has flown its first cargo flight between Europe and the United States.
Based at Liege Airport (LGG), the company has successfully flown its recently acquired Airbus A330-200F from LGG to Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) on March 13.
The aircraft, registration number OO-CMA, is the first of four second-hand freighters that CMA CGM is buying for its new air cargo division, aptly named CMA CGM AIR CARGO.
Owing to the huge demand for air freight, the planes were acquired from Qatar Airways Cargo instead of waiting to purchase a new aircraft. CMA CGM Air Cargo’s aircraft will be operating under Air Belgium’s AOC.
Liege Airport: The hub of European air freight
With its strategic location at the heart of the Amsterdam-Paris-Frankfurt golden triangle, Liege Airport handles 73% of all European air freight. Located less than a day’s drive from most European cities, Liege Airport is easily accessed by a superb network of uncongested motorways. While focusing primarily on air freight, the Liege airport operators can offer the facilities and prices that other airports cannot match. Customers will be able to transport their shipments to other regions.
“We are really proud to be hosting a world-renowned group such as CMA CGM as it develops its cargo operations. A French family group that draws on the expertise of a Belgian company such as Air Belgium, works with Sabena Aerospace for its maintenance, and bases its aircraft at Liege Airport: what we have here is three companies coming together with the same overall ambition to grow and develop.”
~Frédéric Jacquet, CEO of Liege Airport
“The selection of Liege Airport shows once again not only that it has a prominent place in the world of cargo, but also and above all that it is playing an important role in a multimodal vision of logistics. We are delighted to welcome CMA CGM to Liège and to be partners in their projects.”
Liege Airport has emerged as a crucial link in delivering personal protective equipment (PPE) worldwide to help combat and has also registered a 24% increase in cargo than 2019, with 1,120,643 metric tons passing through the facility.
CMA CGM AIR CARGO expects the second of its four Airbus A330-200F to begin regular flights between Liege and the United States in the coming days.
