AFTER TWO and a half years of construction, UPS has officially opened a more than US$135 million (R810m) expansion of its European air operation at Cologne/Bonn Airport in Germany. The new facility is the centrepiece of UPS’s European express network and a key hub in the company’s global air operation, designed to facilitate customers’ distribution needs worldwide. The expansion more than doubles the size of the operating area in Cologne/Bonn to 75 500m2 – the equivalent of more than ten football fields – and automates the express package sorting process with advanced, customised technology. The new building is the largest facility investment outside of the United States in UPS’s history and increases the hub’s sorting capacity to 110 000 packages an hour – or more than 30 packages every second.