DHL Express will triple the size of its domestic air hub in Mexico next year after doublingvolumes there over the last three years in the latest stage of its ongoing $160 million investment
in the country.Three years after opening its domestic air express hub at Querétaro in central Mexico, DHL willinvest $6.4 million to expand the facility from 2,319 sqm to 9,020 sqm, creating about 240 newjobs. The newly automated hub will offer more space for handling and air operations, making it “themost advanced air operations centre in Latin America”, according to the company. Total investmentover five years will come to $13.4 million.
Since 2010 DHL has doubled flights through Querétaro’s International Airport from the originalsix daily flights with capacity for 40 tonnes to 12 flights with capacity for 70 tonnes a night.There are now connections from Querétaro to cities such as Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Monterrey,Hermosillo, Ciudad Obregon, Mazatlan, Villahermosa, Culiacan, La Paz, Cabo San Lucas, Cancun,Merida, Tijuana and Mexico City.
Last year DHL connected the domestic Mexican air network with its international air network byextending the four weekly B767-200 flights from the North America air hub at Cincinnati toGuadalajara in western Mexico on to Querétaro and adding a fifth flight to create a Monday toFriday weekday connection. DHL Express also has international flights from Cincinnati to Monterrey,Mexico City and Hermosillo that serve local import and export markets.
The latest investment at Querétaro was announced during the recent visit of the state governorJosé E. Calzada Rovirosa to Deutsche Post DHL’s headquarters in Bonn, Germany. Deutsche Post DHLCEO Frank Appel told the governor that Querétaro is a state of great importance and economic growthfor DHL Express as demonstrated by this new investment.
Antonio Arranz, head of DHL Express Mexico, said that the significant increase in industrialproduction in the state represented a solid future business opportunity in the manufacturing sectorfor the company. The region, known as the Bajío, already has a strong automotive sector and hasdeveloped a new “aerospace valley” in recent years.
Other major recent investments by DHL Express in Mexico include the $35 million 24,000 sqmdomestic ground hub near Mexico City that opened last year, a $7.3 million new operations centre inMexico City and a new gateway at Monterrey to handle 2,000 shipments an hour. In total, DHL Expressplans to invest $160 million over a period of 5 years (2012-2017) in its network, groundinfrastructure, fleet and technology in the country.
DHL Express operates a network of 55 stations, has a ground fleet of 1,800 vehicles and operates12 domestic flights and 9 international flights in Mexico.
