Grand opening of iLogistics Center at Ljubljana Airport
On Thursday, December 15, cargo-partner hosted a customer event to celebrate the official opening of the expansion of its warehouse in Ljubljana. The new building increases the logistics center’s total capacity from 25,000 m² to 39,100 m². One special highlight of the grand opening was a simulated package delivery by drone, making use of the new facility’s drone landing port.
In 2019, cargo-partner opened its logistics complex in the immediate vicinity of Ljubljana Airport, one of the largest in the cargo-partner group and in the region. Due to rapid business growth and increased market demand, the warehouse reached its capacity within one year, resulting in an expansion earlier than originally planned.
Construction of the new warehouse facility began in January 2022, increasing the total capacity to 39,100 m². It was completed in eleven months and led by the architectural firm Protim Ržišnik Perc. This investment of 12 million euros will create 30 new jobs within cargo-partner’s team in Slovenia. The new facility was completed at the end of November, followed by the official opening on December 15, 2022.
About the facility
With both buildings combined, the iLogistics Center now provides a total of 48,000 pallet slots in four different racking systems. Modern climate control systems ensure that an active temperature regime of +15 to +25 °C is maintained in the entire warehouse area, where short- and long-term storage is available. Thanks to its flexible design, the facility is ideally suited for rapid transshipment, storage of oversized goods, multi-modal services and high-tech logistics solutions. The logistics center now has 59 loading docks for all vehicle types, enabling an efficient flow of goods and quick distribution in the wider region.
Part of the new facility is designed specifically for fulfilment services, including a parcel pickup and return point. In addition, the building also contains modern office spaces which are available for rent. “The newly built facility offers additional storage capacities, which are currently sorely lacking on the market. At the same time, we provide comprehensive fulfillment services giving online retailers all the technological and IT support they need,” said Viktor Kastelic, Managing Director of cargo-partner Slovenia.
Opening ceremony of the new building
The opening event was attended by around 300 guests, including the Ambassador of the Republic of Austria in Slovenia, Ms. Elisabeth Ellison-Kramer. Stefan Krauter, CEO of cargo-partner, addressed the audience, pleased about the company’s achievements in Slovenia: “Congratulations to the cargo-partner team in Slovenia for the excellent work they have done all these years. With its favorable geostrategic location, Slovenia has great potential in the logistics industry, and I am glad that our local team knew how to use this potential. The iLogistics Center Ljubljana solidifies our strong network and long-standing expertise in Central and Eastern Europe and represents an ideal basis for our further growth.”
At the ribbon-cutting ceremony, cargo-partner Slovenia, in cooperation with OneDrone, presented a simulation of a package delivery by drone. A drone flew from the nearby area to the heliport next to the new facility and delivered a package containing the scissors for the ribbon-cutting. The guests in the hall got to watch the arrival of the drone on large screens via live transmission. With this demonstration, cargo-partner hinted at the not-too-distant future of parcel delivery.
Strategic expansion of global logistics capabilities
cargo-partner has been present in Slovenia since 1996 and currently has over 130 employees at two locations: in Brnik and in Koper. In recent years, the cargo-partner group has invested heavily into expanding its logistics capabilities around the world. In addition to the increase in storage capacity near Ljubljana Airport, the company’s latest investments include new logistics centers in Zagreb and Istanbul as well as capacity expansions in China.