UPS has opened a new 15,800m² (170,000ft²) sorting facility at Montpellier–Méditerranée Airport, which will improve shipping times between France and the rest of Europe. The center has a sorting capacity of more than 2,500 packages per hour and can accommodate 65 delivery vehicles.
Located in the cargo area of the airport, the Montpellier facility will have quick access to the E15 and E80 motorways, serving the departments of Aude, Gard, Hérault, Pyrénées and Orientales in the south of the country. It will also serve as a hub for cross-border shipments.
Christophe Boustouller, country manager, UPS France, said, “France is a key market for UPS. Our export volume grew by more than 10% in the third quarter of 2017. This investment demonstrates our long-standing commitment to helping our customers in France grow and connect to markets all over the world.”
With the opening of the new facility, customers in southern France will benefit from faster transit times to Croatia, Germany, Greece, Italy, Slovenia and Spain. For example, a package shipped from Toulouse, France, to Milan, Italy, using UPS’s standard shipping service, will be delivered in two days instead of three.
The Montpellier facility is part of UPS’s US$2bn investment in its European network and infrastructure through until 2019. UPS has completed about 40% of this five-year investment program which is increasing scale and expanding capabilities.