DHL Express this week officially broke ground for its new $50 million regional hub at Seoul’sIncheon International Airport, Korean media reported. It will complement the operator’s Central
Asia hub in Hong Kong and other North Asia hubs at Shanghai and Tokyo.The hub, due for completion by the end of 2008, will serve as a consolidation anddistribution centre for Korea and other nearby markets, and will provide customers with moreintra-regional and intercontinental connections to the United States and Europe, according to DHL.
The DHL Express Incheon Hub is an investment worth almost $50 million and brings DHL’s totalinvestment in Korea to more than $100 million since 2001. This new state-of-the-art facility willbe more than five times larger than the current DHL Express facility at the airport.
“DHL has chosen to invest in our new Incheon facility because the airport has strong regionaland intercontinental connections, allowing for improved transit times to key cities around theworld,” said Dan McHugh, CEO of DHL Express Asia Pacific. “Our Incheon facility is an importantcomponent of DHL Express’ network. It is well placed to ensure that we provide the highest qualityservice for our customers.”
In an interview with the Korea Times, McHugh said that Incheon was well placed to act as alogistics hub for the region. “Basically, hubs like Incheon, Hong Kong and Shanghai serve differentmarkets and our latest commitment, which expands the existing facility by five-fold, shows ourcommitment to Incheon’s huge potential for growth,” he commented.
DHL Express has previously said that it is considering whether to locate a planned North Asiahub in Incheon or Shanghai, but has made no recent comments on these plans.
Backed by a strong intercontinental and regional air network, Incheon International Airporthas seen a steady increase in air cargo and projects a two-fold increase in its handling capabilityfrom 2.5 million tons in 2005 to 4.5 million tons by 2010. Air cargo flows from the surroundingareas recorded almost a 40% year-on-year increase in tonnage in 2006.
Key initiatives by the Korean government, such as the Free Trade Agreement with the UnitedStates and open skies agreements, are positive trade indicators for the express industry, DHL said.
