Air France KLM Martinair Cargo has started work on an automated perishables centre at Paris-Charles de Gaulle, installing an elevating transfer vehicle (ETV) from Lödige Industries that will serve 58 storage decks — 17 of them inside temperature-controlled areas.

The system goes live at the end of September 2027. Lödige Machine Warburg and Lödige Machine Romania are supplying it. That's a long build, but the carrier group is betting the capacity gain justifies the wait.

What does the machine actually do?

An ETV is a workhorse of modern cargo terminals. It lifts unit load devices (ULDs) and pallets into multilevel racking and pulls them back out, without a forklift driver in the loop. At CDG, Air France KLM Martinair Cargo will use it to squeeze more storage out of the perishables building's existing volume — stacking where floor storage used to sit.

Less manual handling means fewer touches on freight that cannot afford them. Perishables — flowers, fruit, pharma-adjacent goods, seafood — degrade with every minute outside a set temperature band. Automating storage and retrieval inside the facility's dedicated cool areas shortens the time freight spends in transit between positions and standardises the process, which is precisely what cold-chain handling demands.

Why the carrier is spending now

The investment increases the facility's capacity and improves cargo handling, and it is aimed squarely at temperature-sensitive volumes. "Expanding our temperature-controlled cargo capabilities at Paris-Charles de Gaulle is an important step in strengthening our cold-chain operations," the project team at Air France KLM Martinair Cargo said. "The new automated storage solution will enable us to handle growing volumes more efficiently and further enhance the cargo handling flow for temperature-sensitive shipments at CDG."

Note the phrasing: growing volumes. The carrier expects more temperature-sensitive freight through CDG and is building the storage to match before it arrives rather than after.

For shippers of perishables routing through Paris, the practical effect is a hub with denser, more reliable cool-chain storage once the ETV is running. For forwarders, it strengthens the case for booking temperature-sensitive cargo on Air France KLM Martinair out of CDG instead of routing via Amsterdam or competing hubs. For the carrier itself, automation protects handling quality as volumes climb — manual processes don't scale gracefully, and cool-chain errors are expensive.

The vendor's case

Björn Ussat, Director Airport Logistic Solutions at Lödige Industries, framed the project in terms of the constraints every cool-chain operator faces.

"Cold-chain logistics place particularly high demands on reliability, efficient use of space and consistent handling processes," Ussat said. "This project demonstrates how automation can help cargo operators optimise storage capacity and internal material flows while supporting the stringent handling requirements of temperature-sensitive shipments."

He added that the solution is scalable and "provides a solid basis for future expansion of automated storage processes at Paris-Charles de Gaulle" — a signal that the 58-deck system may not be the terminal's final word on automation.

What happens next

Construction and integration run through 2026 and most of 2027, with the ETV operational at the end of September 2027. Until then, the perishables centre keeps working as it does today. After that date, shippers moving temperature-sensitive freight via CDG should see faster, more consistent handling and a hub with headroom for volume growth — and Air France KLM Martinair has left the door open to extending automated storage further across its Paris footprint.