Chile's LATAM Cargo Group Plans to Build a 4,312-Square-Meter Air Cargo Facility in Colombia

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On November 11, Chile's LATAM Cargo Group unveiled its infrastructure expansion plan at the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Colombia Cargo Day event held in Bogotá, Colombia. The company has secured a new site in the cargo area of Bogotá's El Dorado International Airport and will build a 4,312-square-meter cargo warehouse. Once the project is completed, the company's warehouse space in Bogotá will expand to three times its original size, and cold storage capacity is expected to increase by approximately 20%. The new facility will simultaneously serve flower exports, domestic cargo, and import cargo handling.

The new warehouse is located in the eastern extension of the airport's cargo terminal area. The site allows direct connection between trucks and aircraft, enabling cargo to be transferred between ground transport vehicles and aircraft, reducing the need for intermediate transfers between different sites. In addition to increasing warehouse space, the project will also expand Bogotá's domestic cargo warehouse and establish a dedicated import cargo handling area, allowing export, import, and domestic cargo to be allocated separate storage and operational spaces.

The cold chain facility expansion focuses primarily on Colombia's flower export market. LATAM Cargo states that the company currently holds approximately a 35% share of Colombia's air flower transport market, and that cold storage capacity is expected to increase by 20% once the new warehouse facilities are put into operation. Flowers are air cargo that places high demands on temperature and handling timeliness, and the additional cold storage space will be used to expand the capacity for receiving, storing, and dispatching such cargo.

In addition to Bogotá, LATAM Cargo has completed cargo facility upgrades at three airports: San Andrés, Leticia, and Pereira, including expanding warehouse areas, updating X-ray inspection equipment, and renovating cargo receiving counters. These upgrades mainly involve cargo storage, security screening, and acceptance processes, and constitute regional operational facility improvements that have already been implemented, distinct from the new warehouse still to be built in Bogotá.

Digital management is also part of the company's adjustments to its cargo operations in Colombia. LATAM Cargo is advancing the application of IATA's ONE Record cargo data exchange standard and is using artificial intelligence and radio frequency identification (RFID) technology in Colombia to track flower shipments, working with the CargoLink platform to receive cargo information in advance. These systems and the warehouse facility expansion serve the functions of cargo information management and physical cargo flow, respectively.