WFS to open multi-purpose cargo terminal at Lyon Airport
New building will offer 19,133 m² of warehouse space and 4,400 m² of temperature-controlled capacity.
Worldwide Flight Services (WFS), a SATS company, is taking a 20-year lease on a new air cargo terminal in the CargoPort area of Lyon-Saint Exupéry Airport (LYS), which serves the world’s leading vaccine-producing region, due to open in summer 2026.
"On the 5.2-hectare Aéroport de Lyon DC1 site and covering an area of 25,313 m², the new WFS air cargo building is located directly adjacent to the runway and will offer 19,133 m² of warehouse space and 2,441 m² of canopy and 4,400 m² of temperature-controlled capacity, which will be dedicated for pharmaceutical shipments and perishables requiring +2/25°C storage. Apart from its proximity to the runway, which will facilitate cargo movements, the building will also provide three blocks of office accommodation, of which two will be dedicated for customers," says an official release from WFS.
The project is being undertaken for WFS in partnership with Groupe em2c, Prologis and Lyon Airport authority, the release added.
(From left): Vincent Sadé, Vice President, Head of Deployment, Prologis France, Laurent Bernard, VP, Cargo and Ground Handling France, WFS, Lionel Lassagne, Director, Sustainable Property Development, Aéroport de Lyon, Sandro Innocenti, SVP, Southern Europe, Prologis, Pierre Marmonier, Mayor of Colombier Saugnieu, France, Camille Junet, CCI Lyon-Metropole Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Yvan Patet, President, em2c.
"Aéroport de Lyon DC1 will become our second largest hub in France after Paris CDG for our French operations," says Laurent Bernard, Vice-President, WFS France. "Its strategic location and design will allow us to streamline cargo processing, especially for pharma shipments in the world’s leading vaccine-producing region. The new terminal will shorten turnaround times and increase our capacity in one of France’s most important logistics corridors, while reducing our carbon footprint with a modern building that has earned a BREEAM 'Very Good' classification, which measures the sustainability of buildings."
Cédric Fechter, Chairman of the Management Board, Aéroports de Lyon adds: "The ADL DC1 platform, the result of close cooperation between Prologis, Groupe em2c, WFS and Aéroports de Lyon, confirms the development of the freight zone at Lyon-Saint Exupéry Airport, Cargoport, and marks a new step in regional economic growth. This project perfectly illustrates VINCI Airports' strategy for developing cargo activities, and reaffirms the key role played by Aéroports de Lyon in the regional logistics chain. The creation of a pharma centre, operated by WFS, addresses the growing needs of healthcare product transportation, directly linked to the excellence of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region - the world’s leading vaccine-producing region, which has also been home to the World Health Organization (WHO) since last April. This partnership demonstrates our ability to bring together industry stakeholders around high-performing infrastructure that supports the attractiveness and competitiveness of the region."
The new site will serve as an anchor for WFS operations in France, allowing the consolidation of activities previously spread across multiple sites into a single high-capacity terminal suited and equipped for all airfreight requirements, the release added.
