DHL soars: Massive new Bonn airfreight hub connects Europe - then on to Asia
Leading express and logistics company DHL officially opened its new European airfreight hub at Leipzig Halle Airport on May 26, 2008 in Bonn, Germany.
Before one of Europe's largest construction sites, the completed hub expands DHL's international network, providing greater connectivity to global growth markets and enabling DHL to improve its overall customer service.
The facility was opened by John Mullen, CEO of DHL Express, who was joined by other luminaries including Dr. Frank Appel, board chairman of Deutsche Post World Net, Scott Price, CEO of DHL Express Europe and Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs and Vice-Chancellor Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
Mullen said "demand for express services is growing worldwide and we took the decision to invest in our international network in order to meet this need".
"The state-of-the-art hub will enable us to continue to offer the best service, quality and reach to our customers. It is not only one of the industry's most technically advanced hubs but will also protect and strengthen our leading position in the European, and indeed global, express market."
About 300 million euros were invested by Deutsche Post World Net in construction of the airfreight hub situated at a crossroad to provide direct north-south and east-west access to Europe. It also connects to established and emerging markets in Europe and Asia.
The CEO said decisive criteria for the choice of location were the position of the airport, its proximity to growth markets in Eastern Europe, security with comprehensive authorization for nighttime flights, the wealth of motivated and highly qualified locally based personnel and impressive infrastructure that allows for a future combination of the carriers by air, road and rail.
Price added that "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 express services on more trade lanes than ever before, with improved access to Eastern Europe and Asia."
The hub has a distribution center with the largest and most modern sorting line in Germany, an aircraft hangar, apron, tank station and administration building.
Around 1,500 tons of freight is transshipped each night, a figure set to rise to 2,000 tons by 2012.
Leipzig is the first DHL facility able to meet its needs for electricity, heating and cooling through self-sufficiently ensured by a cogeneration unit for combined heat and power generation, together with 1,000 sq m of solar cells on the roof of the hangar workshop. Two underground cisterns with a capacity of 300 cu m each collect some 3,000 cu m of rain water every year used to wash aircraft.
"The success of the DHL business can be attributed to many factors, but one that is particularly important in the current climate is our ability to effectively adapt," Mullen said.
"At present, we are focused on initiatives to help preserve the environment. DHL Express was the first company in the logistics sector to actively set a specific carbon efficiency target and as a result, we have a number of environmentally responsible operations at the new hub to help us achieve greater sustainability in the future."
(China Daily 06/16/2008 page19)
