Airport executives project that the new facility will be completed by February or March. Expanding the Cargo Center Billund by 7,265 square feet, the additional space will feature a cargo-pallet-loading complex and five loading ramps for fast freight-handling. Billund Airport spokesmen said the renovated center will also speed up the flow through the existing cargo terminals.

With the additional space, the Cargo Center Billund will span 42,640 square feet.

Jan Ditlevsen, vice president of airfreight at Billund Airport, points to the numerous benefits of the expansion. “After the construction is complete, we expect that our [annual] capacity will be about 100,000 tonnes,” he told Air Cargo World . Contrasted with Billund’s 2010 tonnage — 62,000 — this number is particularly impressive. “It’s certainly a big construction,” Ditlevsen acknowledged.

Although the cargo facility won’t be renovated until next year, Ditlevsen anticipates growth in 2011. “We had almost 30 percent growth last year and expect 10 percent this year,” he said.

He credits Billund’s location in the industrial center of Denmark with much of the cargo center’s success. “We have some huge importers and exporters like [Bang & Olufsen] and the Lego Group in this area, and we take advantage of that,” he said. “We are situated in a part of the world that is doing quite well.”

DHL Global Forwarding and TNT Airways both operate daily cargo flights to and from Billund Airport, and UPS joined the ranks earlier this year.