Helsinki Airport Cool Nordic Cargo Hub

Europe's most modern air freight terminal

In order to handle growing cargo volumes efficiently, Lödige Industries delivered state of-the-art automation technology for the ‘Cool Nordic Cargo Hub’ of Finnair at Helsinki airport. The turnkey solution delivered to Finnair includes design, manufacturing and installation of the material handling equipment as well as the automation process technology, onsite maintenance and remote monitoring.

The new 37,000 square meter facility in Helsinki was built with the intention of raising Finnair’s total cargo capacity to 450,000 tonnes of airfreight per year. In addition, Finnair was keen to implement smart processes in terms of automation and data control.

Finnair is the largest Nordic air cargo carrier, transporting 145,000 tonnes of freight and mail annually. The Cargo Logistics Hubs in Helsinki and Brussels serve 250 direct flights with wide-body passenger aircraft between Europe, Asia and the US every week.

The new COOL Nordic cargo hub at Helsinki Airport, known in the industry as the "COOL Terminal" is the most modern air cargo terminal in Europe and one of the newest air freight hubs in the world.

Project details

Client: Finnair

Location: Nordic Cool Cargo Hub, Helsinki

Completion date: November 2017

Capacity: 350,000 tonnes per year

Gross area: 37,000 m²

Components

ASRS storage positions 2,000x
ULD storage positions 582x
Elevating transfer vehicel 2x
Tilting dolly interfaces 24x
Elevating work stations 11x
Powered roller decks 70x
Truck docks 5x
Slave pallet mover & slave pallets 6x

Challenges of Finnairs Cool Nordic Cargo Hub

Raising Finnair’s total cargo capacity to 350,000 tonnes of airfreight per year
Finnair was keen to implement smart processes in terms of automation and data control

Solutions and benefits for Finnair

Integrating business processes and automation equipment into a smart IT system (giving Finnair the desired throughput and maximum consignment control)
Smart planning tools based on live data are used in the most efficient way (given just-in-time and just-in-sequence considerations)
Separate build-up processes in a special fish and seafood area are integrated into the overall process management
The state-of-the-art material handling technology delivered by Lödige includes an automated ULD store using two 15 ft elevating transfer vehicles to serve 580 storage positions as well as an automated storage and retrieval system for 2,002 pallet storage positions using 11 stacker cranes
Since start of operations, Lödige Industries is handling on site maintenance as well as remote monitoring and control. The service contract, which has since been expanded, includes full service and maintenance of the equipment as well as IT maintenance and regular upgrades