Amazon has launched air cargo operations in Europe.

A 20,000sq m facility at Germany’s Leipzig/Halle Airport is the company’s first regional air hub outside of the US, and forms part of a strategic plan to bring more freight operations in-house.

Two branded 737-800 aircraft have been leased from GECAS. They will be operated by ASL Airlines on behalf of Amazon Air in Europe.

The site has already started to support customer deliveries with two daily flights.

Dietmar Jüngling, former general manager of the Amazon Fulfillment Center in Leipzig, now leads the team that will sort, load and unload parcels from trucks to the planes and vice versa.

“We appreciate all the support of the community in embracing these operations and the long-term economic impact and job creation opportunities we will bring to the region,” he said.

“We have been hard at work to build and train a team to build our air cargo network in the region while maintaining a safe working environment. Our objective is to ensure we are able to support the changing needs of customers during this challenging time and beyond.”