DHL Express has connected its domestic business in Mexico to its international air network withthe launch of flights between its North America hub at Cincinnati and its Mexican domestic hub at
Querétaro to drive its growth ambitions in the country.The express operator last month extended its existing Cincinnati – Guadalajara flights toQuerétaro, in central Mexico, and added an extra weekly frequency. A B767-200 freighter withcapacity for 42 tonnes now flies Mondays to Friday from Cincinnati (CVG) to Guadalajara and on toQuerétaro, returning via Guadalajara to CVG.
At Querétaro, the flight connects with DHL’s 12 nightly flights to destinations across thecountry. DHL Express also has international flights from CVG to Monterrey, Mexico City andHermosillo that serve local import and export markets.
DHL Express Mexico country manager Antonio Arranz said the new international service fromQuerétaro would strengthen the company’s position in the surrounding region, known as the Bajíowhere a new “aerospace valley” has been created in recent years and where there is a strongautomotive sector.
Customers in the region now benefited from direct international air links to the rest of theworld via the Cincinnati hub, Arranz said. DHL would be able to extend pick-up times for exports byfour hours while imports from the US would be reduced by one transit day, he stressed.
At Querétaro, the domestic air hub since 2010, DHL has invested US$3.7 million to expand itsfacilities to handle the new flight.
Arranz declared: “In 2010, with the establishment of our domestic air operations centre here, wewere the first company in the industry to trust in Querétaro. With this new international flight weare confirming our strategic vision for the region. From Querétaro International Airport we areconnecting all the national shipments of the company and our international business is serving thehub to consolidate our handling capacity of up to 70 tonnes of shipments daily at thesefacilities.”
Earlier this year, Arranz told CEP-Research in an interview that DHL Express Mexico, whichhandles more than 100,000 packages a day, aims to overtake UPS and FedEx in the Mexicaninternational express market and also will open a major €25 million, 25,000 sqm domestic road hubclose to Mexico City this year as part of its ongoing $125 million investment plans.
