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Kuehne+Nagel extends Heathrow lease

[ May 28, 2020   //   ]

Aberdeen Standard Investments’ AIPUT fund (Airport Industrial Property Unit Trust) has secured a lease extension to 2030 with forwarder Kuehne+Nagel for its Heathrow South Cargo Centre.

GlaxoSmithKline is the leading customer of the facility, and represents a significant share of the UK’s pharmaceutical imports and exports.

Kuehne+Nagel also operates AIPUT’s Perishables Handling Centre at Hatton Cross, a 72,500 sq on-airport temperature-controlled warehouse facility specifically designed to process imported food airfreight from all over the world.

Heathrow has been repurposed in recent weeks to focus mainly on importing essential products to support the UK’s recovery and is currently handling up to 95 dedicated cargo flights each day – 14 times the number in normal times. Overall cargo volumes passing through the airport have though been significantly lower than usual due to the dramatic reduction in belly-freight usually carried in long-haul passenger aircraft.

AIPUT fund manager Nick Smith, said: “Kuehne+Nagel is one of a number of AIPUT customers and commercial partners at Heathrow that have responded magnificently in ramping up their business operations to help support the nation’s health – in particular our NHS – in the most challenging circumstances. It’s hugely inspiring to see businesses vital to the operations of our leading airports, stepping up to the mark and proving the importance of the UK’s aviation industry to our national wellbeing, as well as to future economic recovery.”

He added: “This new agreement with our valued partners Kuehne+Nagel, secures the future of this nationally-important air freight facility for years to come, making a major contribution towards ensuring that the UK’s vital access to global healthcare supplies is maintained.”

AIPUT manages over 2.1m sq ft of cargo warehousing serving Heathrow Airport. It has recently secured planning permission for two new warehouse buildings adding a further 145,000 sq ft of airport-related warehousing at Heathrow, divided between its dnata City East campus, south Heathrow, and Blackthorne Point, west of the airport.

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