DHL Express yesterday inaugurated its new $4.5 million Central America air hub at Panama Cityinternational airport which it described as the largest express industry hub in the region.
With the new 83,000 sq ft facility, DHL Express has increased its sorting capacity by morethan 250% to up to 5,000 packages per hour. The new hub gives DHL the infrastructure and capacityneeded to efficiently respond to the accelerated rise in international trade, particularly betweenthe United States and Central America, which stems from recent free trade agreements.
“It is key for DHL to continuously invest in strengthening our global network. Simply put,transporting our customer’s goods to any corner of the world in record time is what we stand for.Today’s hub opening underscores our priority to exceed our customers’ expectations by improving ourresponse time and shipment handling, while it also represents the strong commitment we have withthis fast-growing region,” said Roger Crook, CEO of DHL Express, International Americas during thehub’s inaugural ceremony.
Strategically located at Tocumen International Airport in Panama, the hub was designed tooptimise space allowing for greater operational and storage space, and thus increase shipmentcapacity and improve aircraft departure times by 10%. The new 83,000 sq ft facility is three timeslarger than the previous one and comprises various innovations and technology systems including acold room for storing packages that require temperature control, material handling system and are-packaging area.
The operations centre also includes high security measures, such as a private room to storehigh-value shipments, ramps that enable packages to be unloaded directly from the plane andsecurity cameras monitored real-time through the internet.
DHL said the new hub in Panama strengthens its regional air network. DHL’s Latin Americanairline is based in Panama City and services a wide range of destinations in Central and SouthAmerica using Boeing 727 aircraft. “DHL has been working to strengthen its aviation network andoffer better global connectivity to our customers. Further to increasing our operational capacity,this new hub will enable us to improve our departure times by 10%,” commented Neil Ferguson, SeniorVice President, DHL Aviation Americas.
The opening of the new hub in Panama follows several announcements on investments thatsupport the company’s business growth. In Mexico, the expansion of DHL Mexico City’s main hub, thatis part of a five-year investment plan of over $112 million, increased the company’s operatingcapacity by 20%. In Brazil, DHL recently opened four points-of-sales centres in the country’s majorcities strategically located in high-traffic areas that facilitate access to small- and medium-sizecompanies. In Jamaica, DHL built and inaugurated a new Gateway to speed customs clearance. InArgentina, the company invested $1 million in a customer service centre with state-of-the arttechnology which doubled the capacity.
