Bonn-based logistics company DHL opens regional hub in Brussels
Brussels · Bonn-based logistics company DHL has invested 114 million euros in a new regional hub at Brussels Airport. Up to 42,000 shipments can be processed per hour at the new facility.
Ten years after relocating its cargo hub from Brussels to Leipzig, DHL Express has opened a new hub in the Belgian capital. DHL Express CEO Ken Allen reported on Thursday at the opening ceremony that the logistics and express service provider has invested more than € 114 million in the construction of a new hall, including facilities. With an area of 31,500 square meters, the building is the size of four and a half football fields. Thanks to state-of-the-art technology, which accelerates transport processes, it will be possible to handle up to 42,000 shipments per hour, which is almost four times as much as before.
DHL Express is a division of Deutsche Post DHL Group which is based in Bonn. In 2008, the main hub of DHL Express was moved to Leipzig because there were no restrictions on night flights. After the move, the shipment volume at the Brussels airport of DHL Express initially decreased, but today it is higher than before the move. CEO Allen called the online trade a reason for the strong growth. "This is the real revolution." Internet trade offers small and medium-sized enterprises in particular the opportunity to find customers all over the world in a very short time, whereas this used to take years.
200 additional jobs
Two fully automated sorting systems significantly speed up cargo center operations. The parcels travel on conveyor belts totaling 6.5 kilometers throughout the hall. The individual shipments do not touch each other, so that less delivery damage occurs. One million euros were invested in each of the nine X-ray machines, which can examine 2,500 shipments per hour for potentially explosive material.
The new hub has already created 200 additional jobs, bringing the number of DHL Express employees at Brussels Airport to 1,200. In comparison: More than 5,000 people work at the Leipzig hub. Since the end of 2016, 230 million euros have been invested in the expansion at the Leipzig site, which meanwhile can handle up to 150,000 shipments per hour, which means an increase in capacity of 50 percent.
The new hub has no effect on the Cologne / Bonn airport, responded spokesman Walter Römer to a GA inquiry. DHL Express had also taken away capacity from Cologne / Bonn Airport with the move from Brussels to Leipzig, but Fedex jumped in to fill the gap. DHL Express delivers door-to-door shipments, accounting for 38 percent of global express business, making it the largest company in the field. It employs more than 340,000 people. (Orig. text: Ulla Thiede, Translation: ck)
