Zoo animals, vaccines and more: Sats powers Paris air cargo hub at Charles de Gaulle
Besides live animals, the facility also handles other types of specialised cargo, such as pharmaceuticals and perishables like meat and milk.
The facility is owned by Sats, the Singapore-listed air cargo handling services provider, and operated by its subsidiary Worldwide Flight Services (WFS), which it acquired in 2023.
Following the €1.3 billion (S$1.9 billion) acquisition, Sats became the world's largest air cargo handler. The combined Sats-WFS network operates over 215 stations across 27 countries, covering trade routes that account for more than half of global air cargo volume.
Mr Laurent Bernard, vice-president of WFS in France, said on June 3 that the country handled 1.3 million tonnes of cargo in 2024, with 70 per cent coming from Charles de Gaulle Airport.
On June 4, the media toured the Paris cargo facility for the first time.
Mr Bernard said Sats' acquisition has helped WFS expand its network, giving it a long-term vision and ability to invest in its business.
Previously, WFS was 'very Europe-centric', he said. The company also saw growth in the US, but it lacked a significant footprint in Asia .
World Flight Services staff loading a cargo crate onto an aircraft at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris on May 4.
ST PHOTO: AZMI ATHNI
With the acquisition, its reach is now truly global, strengthening its position to negotiate better deals with clients.
'When they are (negotiating) with us, they want a global deal. We can provide them the full package, and many stations (around the world), which is quite important,' Mr Bernard said.
WFS was previously owned by a private equity firm whose focus was on 'making quick money in a short time', he said. Sats' acquisition has enabled the company to make investments in its business with a long-term perspective.
For example, it is building a 20,000 sq m cargo facility in Lyon – about 460km south of Paris – that will include 7,000 sq m of temperature-controlled space. The building is expected to be ready by mid-2026.
WFS has 120,000 sq m of warehouse space at Charles de Gaulle Airport , with roughly 20 per cent of this space dedicated to specialised cargo, Mr Bernard said. General cargo, which is still the company's main business, makes up the rest.
Mr Laurent Bernard, vice-president of WFS in France, said Sats' acquisition has helped WFS expand its network, giving it a long-term vision and ability to invest in its business.
ST PHOTO: AZMI ATHNI
Outside Paris, WFS operates at 11 provincial airports across France, including those in Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Nantes, and Strasbourg.
The media toured warehouses dedicated to three types of specialised cargo: e-commerce cargo , pharmaceuticals and shipments managed through freight forwarding.
The e-commerce cargo is housed in a 5,000 sq m warehouse located less than 100m from the airside. This allows for fast and efficient cargo transfer, meeting the quick turnaround demands of airlines and freight forwarders aiming to make timely deliveries.
E-commerce cargo is housed in a 5,000 sq m warehouse located less than 100m from the airside.
ST PHOTO: AZMI ATHNI
It takes about an hour to unload a full plane, and after checks on-site, the cargo is picked up as soon as two hours later. Most of the cargo arriving at the e-commerce warehouse is from China.
The 2,400 sq m pharmaceutical warehouse is temperature-controlled, with one part of the site kept at 15 to 25 deg C and a smaller section at two to eight deg C.
The warehouse handles vaccines, insulin and medical devices that have to be kept at a certain temperature.
Workers loading pharmaceutical cargo onto a van at the World Flight Services cargo facility at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris. The facility is temperature-controlled, and handles shipments of vaccines and other medicines that are temperature-sensitive.
ST PHOTO: AZMI ATHNI
Another specialised cargo service is freight forwarding, or the coordination and organisation of the movement of shipments on behalf of a shipper.
Freight forwarding companies that do not have their own warehouses – usually smaller players – rent space at the WFS facility to consolidate shipments before moving them to the final destinations. This is more economical than leasing their own spaces when cargo volume is low.
The World Flight Services freight forwarding warehouse at Charles de Gaulle airport.
ST PHOTO: AZMI ATHNI
Besides their warehouse operations at Charles de Gaulle airport, WFS also runs an academy there to train workers in handling specialised cargo.
In 2025, the centre aims to train 16,000 people in areas such as the handling of live animals, pharmaceuticals, dangerous goods like flammable liquids or materials, and perishable goods like meat and milk.
Mr Bernard said Paris has the capacity to continue accepting passengers, and that it is 'crucial to have cargo linked to the (passenger) routes'.
Having cargo on board a passenger plane could contribute 30 per cent of a route's profitability, he added.
'It's quite important – in parallel with passenger development – to continue to grow from the cargo side.'
Meanwhile, Sats announced on June 3 three new product offerings designed to strengthen global air logistics resilience, in partnership with global transport and logistics company Kuehne + Nagel.
One of the services is the expedited delivery of aircraft parts to Changi Airport during Aircraft-on-Ground (AOG) emergencies, where planes are grounded due to technical or mechanical issues.
Sats said the solution leverages technology to track the response during an AOG emergency. This allows ground teams to anticipate the arrival of the spare parts and to prepare for repairs, enabling a quicker return to service.
'These disruptions can result in significant operational and financial impacts, making quick access to spare parts a high priority for the aviation industry,' said Sats and Kuehne + Nagel.
The two partners also launched sea-air freight services at Sats' Los Angeles and Singapore hubs. This allows customers to transfer sea cargo onto air transport in the last leg of the journey, which could mitigate disruptions to customers' supply chains.
To improve trucking and warehouse efficiency at Frankfurt Airport, the two partners have accelerated import cargo clearance there. This streamlining has reduced delays, allowing faster cargo pick-up and delivery by truck.
Vanessa Paige Chelvan is a correspondent at The Straits Times. She writes about all things transport and pens the occasional commentary.
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CNA
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