DHL Express has unveiled plans to invest €90 million in a large-scale new air hub at Milan Malpensa airport to serve as its main Italy gateway as part of €350 million overall spending in the country in the next five years.
DHL Express and SEA, the Milan airports management company, signed an agreement last Friday (February 12) for construction of the new next-generation logistics hub. Construction of the 46,000 sqm facility in the airport’s cargo city will start by the end of this year, with operations scheduled to start in the first half of 2018.
"The construction of the new centre is born from the need to manage the double-digit growth generated by DHL Express and which is expected in the next few years in Italy, further strengthening intercontinental air links," commented Alberto Nobis, CEO of DHL Express Italy.
The new hub will include an advanced sorting system to speed up handling and which will triple the current capacity of 12,000 shipments per day. Shipment cut-off times will be improved, giving customers an extra hour to prepare their shipments for collection by DHL.
The hub will replace a smaller 11,620 sqm facility that the company opened only last year in an initial €3.8 million investment. However, no information was provided on the number of planned flights once the much larger new hub opens.
At present, DHL Express uses three planes to operate six flights to and from Malpensa. There are two daily B757F flights to and from the Leipzig hub, a feeder flight to East Midlands in the UK to connect to the first daily flight to the USA, and twice-weekly B777 flights from Malpensa to Hong Kong.
Plans for a new facility at Milan Malpensa were revealed by Roy Hughes, DHL Express EVP Network Operations & Aviation, in an exclusive interview with CEP-Research last September. He explained that DHL wanted to defend its position in Italy’s industrial north after rival FedEx launched flights at Milan Malpensa airport in 2013. In response, DHL already switched some flights from its long-serving regional sub-hub at nearby Bergamo airport.
“We want a two-hub solution in Italy. We need to solidify our position in the north. Malpensa will help protect our market share in places like Turin,” Hughes explained at the time. “We will keep Bergamo but Malpensa gives us a dynamic development, huge opportunities and will help to protect our market share in north-west Italy.”
Giulio De Metrio, Chief Operating Officer of SEA, said: "The choice of DHL to strengthen the current hub station / gateway confirms the value that our airport is able to generate for its customers through its offered facilities and services and is an important recognition of investments which SEA has carried out in the cargo sector in recent years, with over €100 million invested between 2011 and 2016."
Milan Malpensa, which handles 60% of Italian air freight traffic, increased volumes by 9% last year despite Italy’s stagnant economic growth. Notably, flights by air express companies increased by 50% last year, and now represent one third of the 200 weekly cargo flights at the airport.
Looking ahead, DHL Express said it will invest around €350 million in Italy in the next five years to improve service and expand capacity. Malpensa will then have an even more strategic role with respect to the mission of serving the Italian market, becoming a major European hub, according to the company. In addition, DHL has plans for a new airport facility at Venice and intends to switch in Rome from the small Ciampino airport to the main international airport of Fiucimino.
In Italy, DHL Express operates a logistics network of 11 bases. This comprises the two international air hubs at Milan Malpensa and Bergamo Orio al Serio, two domestic hubs at Bologna and Carpiano (close to Milan), 6 gateways for domestic flights (Ancona, Bologna, Rome Ciampino, Naples, Venice, Pisa) and one road express hub (Carpiano). The transport fleet consists of 16 aircraft and 2,200 delivery vehicles.
