Leading express companies have suspended or severely scaled back activities in Egypt in responseto the dramatic uprising that threatens to topple the country’s regime.
DHL, TNT, FedEx, UPS and Aramex have all been forced to limit or withdraw services in thecountry over the last few days due to the social unrest.
DHL Express has suspended delivery services inside Egypt, spokesman Jörg Wiedemann toldCEP-Research. The company has 533 employees and about 100 vehicles at 44 locations across thecountry. DHL Express and Global Forwarding combined had about 1.7 million shipments in Egypt in2009.
FedEx Express has suspended services across the country until further notice. Its facilities atParis Charles De Gaulle, London Heathrow and Dubai International airports are holding any shipmentsgoing to Egypt until further notice. “We are closely monitoring this situation and we haveoperational contingency plans in place to minimise any service delays. We will resumeservices as soon as possible,” a spokeswoman told CEP-Research.
“All our agents’ employees are safe and have been accounted for. All our agents’ officesand vehicles are unharmed,” she added. FedEx is represented in Egypt through a service contractor,Egypt Express. “Our first priority is the safety of our team members as well as our customers’shipments.”
TNT Express closed its offices in Egypt on January 30 due to the civil unrest and has so farsuspended services until February 2. It asked customers in online messages to hold back shipmentsfor the country at present.
UPS, which operates in Egypt through Mansour Courier Service, its authorised service contractor,warned customers that shipments to and from the country may experience delays. “Collections arecurrently only taking place in the Cairo City and Greater Cairo area. Deliveries are limited toCairo City and Greater Cairo, where possible,” it said in an online message. CEO Scott Davis toldanalysts during the Q4 results conference call today that the Egypt situation would not have a bigimpact on business but he was more concerned about the potential impact on energy prices.
Aramex already announced yesterday that its operations in the country have been suspended. “Due to the current political situation in Egypt; curfew, disruption of internet and telecomservices, no pick-ups or deliveries will be performed until further notice,” it stated in a serviceupdate. “Our employees, who are our highest priority, remain safe, and our facilities havenot suffered any damage,” said CEO Fadi Ghandour. “In the short term, we do not anticipate that thecurrent unrest will have a significant impact on our revenues.”
