DHL Express today officially opened its €300 million European air hub at Leipzig/Halle airport tostrengthen its global network, cut transit times and move closer to growth markets in Central and
Eastern Europe.The site, replacing the former Brussels hub, was ceremonially opened by Deutsche Post WorldNet CEO Frank Appel, DHL Express CEO John Mullen, DHL Express Europe CEO Scott Price, and severalGerman ministers including foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
The hub, on a total area of two million square metres, comprises a 48,000 sqm distributioncentre, incorporating a 6.5km fully-automatic sorting line with capacity for up to 60,000 parcelsand 36,000 documents per hour, a 1.4km apron area where up to 55 aircraft can be parkedsimultaneously, a 27,000 sqm aircraft hangar, a tank station and an administration building.
DHL Express is now transporting 1,500 tonnes a day through the hub on some 60 aircraftoperating to 46 destinations in Europe and overseas, and has created 2,000 jobs at the location. By2012, it expects to increase volumes to 2,000 tonnes a night, and employ 3,500 handling and otherstaff.
In September, a daily rail freight service carrying DHL shipments and probably also those ofother freight forwarders is due to launch between Leipzig and Frankfurt airport, while Aerologic,the joint venture airline with Lufthansa Cargo, is due to launch flights to Asia from the airportnext year.
Stressing that DHL aimed to grow “faster than the competition”, DPWN CEO Frank Appeldescribed the new European air hub as a vital step in the expansion of DHL’s global network andhighlighted Leipzig’s ideal location “in the middle of Europe” and close to the growth markets ofCentral and Eastern Europe. On the issue of noise from night operations, Appel stressed DHL aimedto minimise impact by operating quieter, more fuel-efficient B757s and B777s.
John Mullen, DHL Express CEO, said: “Demand for Express services is growing worldwide and wetook the decision to invest in our international network in order to meet this need. Thestate-of-the-art new hub will enable us to continue to offer the best possible service, quality andreach for our customers. It is not only one of the industry’s most technically advanced hubs, withsome of the world’s most sophisticated sorting equipment, but it will also protect and strengthenour leading position in the European, and indeed global, express market.”
Scott Price, DHL Express Europe CEO, added: “Due to the relocation of our European super-hub,we are now able to offer minimized shipment running time and also offer our newest prime expressservices on more trade lanes than ever before, with improved access to Eastern Europe and Asia.”DHL Express had been operating at full capacity at the former hubs at Brussels and Cologne, whileLeipzig offered growth potential for the next 20-30 years, he noted. In addition, DHL’s Amsterdamand Paris gateways had been upgraded with air links to the new hub, he added.
The decisive criteria for the choice of location were the position of the airport, itsproximity to growth markets in Eastern Europe, the long-term planning security with comprehensiveauthorization for night-time flights, the wealth of motivated and highly qualified locally-basedpersonnel, and impressive infrastructure which allows for a future-oriented combination of thecarriers air, road and rail, DHL executives pointed out.
In addition, Leipzig is the first DHL facility able to meet its needs for electricity,heating and cooling energy, to a large extent self-sufficiently, DHL said. This is ensured by acogeneration unit for combined heat and power generation, together with 1,000 square meters ofsolar cells on the roof of the hangar workshop for the generation of electricity from solar energy.In addition, two underground cisterns, with a capacity of 300 cubic meters each collecting around3,000 cubic meters of rain water each year, will be used instead of drinking water to wash theaircraft.
