“Key task this year is to convince more forwarders and airlines”

Thilo Schmid, Chief Executive Officer, Cologne Bonn Airport, said that the German airport is facing a chicken and egg problem wherein freight forwarders want more airlines to stop at the airport to allocate more business while the airlines need commitment from the forwarders to fly.

"The forwarders have a lot of freight coming from the region but most of them bypass Cologne Bonn Airport and go to other airports including Frankfurt Airport," he said.

Schmid thinks that their key task for this year and next year is to convince more forwarders and airlines to come to the airport.

He also thinks that his airport has the perfect infrastructure to grow and mentions some of its strengths.

"First, we have 24/7 operations which is unique in Germany, Second, we have a warehouse with 20,000 sq meters and we are trying to build a new one of the same size and third, we are located in the middle of Germany with good highways and connectivity," he said.

Watch the video to hear more from him.