Source: WFS
Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) has won a five-year contract with Emirates SkyCargo to handle its freight operations at Germany’s Frankfurt Airport.
WFS is a SATS company and the deal adds to SATS’s and WFS’s longstanding business relationship with Emirates, with the group now providing gateway services at 21 stations across the Dubai-based airline’s global network.
Frankfurt Airport is one of Europe’s busiest cargo gateways, and it also serves as one of Emirates’ most important hubs on the continent. The carrier’s freight division offers a weekly cargo capacity of over 1,400 tonnes through the airport.
Robert Fordree, Emirates SkyCargo’s senior vice president of operations worldwide, remarked: “With six scheduled freighters and 21 passenger flights per week, Frankfurt is an anchor of our European network.
“As one of the world’s most important financial hubs, we move significant volume in and out the market, including specialist products such as pharmaceuticals, automobiles and machinery.
“By expanding our global partnership with WFS to Frankfurt, we will enhance our existing operations and ensure we can deliver goods quickly, reliably and efficiently, strengthening trade links between Germany’s vibrant business community and the wider world.”
John Batten, chief executive of gateway services, Europe, Middle East, Africa & Asia (EMEAA) at WFS, advised: “At Frankfurt Airport, our team is focused on implementing the operational excellence and specialised handling capabilities that Emirates requires.
“Our significant investment in pharmaceutical handling capabilities at Frankfurt, combined with our proven expertise in managing time-sensitive cargo, positions us to deliver the efficient, secure and reliable services that Emirates and their customers expect at this important European hub.”
More good news for WFS was announced earlier this month; (April). Malaysia Airlines’ cargo arm, MASkargo resumed its cargo handling partnership with WFS in Paris to support the airline’s new daily flights to Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) Airport.
The two companies previously partnered in the French capital until Malaysia Airlines withdrew from the route in January 2016.
Cargo hub
Frankfurt saw its total cargo throughput (including both airfreight and air mail) rise by 3.2 percent year-on-year to reach 184,679 tonnes in March 2025.
However, over the course of the first quarter of this year, Fraport handled 485,070 tonnes of cargo, down by 0.3 percent on the same three months of 2024.
The gateway’s air cargo volumes rose by 6.2% year on year in 2024 to 2.1m tonnes. However, volumes were still 3.7% down on pre-Covid 2019 levels.
