DHL adds Boeing 747-400F to Hong Kong- Singapore route

DHL has added a Boeing 747-400 Freighter to service its Singapore-Hong Kong route through Air Hong Kong, a joint venture between Cathay Pacific and DHL.

The 110-ton-freighter replaces the current 45-ton A300-600F, and will operate between both cities six days a week, more than doubling capacity on the SIN-HKG route, a vital link for the company's intra-Asia trade, after its US$210 million Central Asia Hub at Hong Kong International Airport handled 30 million shipments in 2008 from across the region.

The Boeing 747-400F service will link DHL's Central Asia Hub in Hong Kong, and the DHL Express Singapore Hub, which constitutes over 50 per cent of DHL's Asia volumes, said Stephen Fenwick, senior vice president of operations, DHL Express Asia Pacific in a company statement said.

The addition of the Boeing 747-400F service comes on the back of increased air capacity for flights between Hong Kong and Nagoya, Taipei, Seoul and Singapore. Operated by Air Hong Kong, the flights were increased in the fourth quarter of 2008 to six times per week, up from five times a week.

DHL's intra-Asia air Express freight business has grown over 11 per cent year on year between 2003 and 2008, with shipments along the Singapore-Hong Kong route comprising 30 per cent of total intra-Asia shipment volume, said Dan McHugh, CEO, DHL Express Asia Pacific, where DHL has invested over US$2.2 billion since 2000.

Intra-Asia volumes from Hong Kong grew an average of 16 per cent year on year between 2003 and 2008, as compared to a 3 per cent annual growth on other trade lanes. Similarly, in Singapore, DHL's intra-Asia volumes rose by an average of 5 per cent per annum during this period, as compared to an average of 4 per cent growth on non-intra-Asia trade lanes.

With the addition of the Boeing 747-400F, the existing A300-600F will replace some of the smaller aircraft within the network, said Tom Murphy, senior vice president of aviation, DHL Express Asia Pacific, where the company utilises over 500 commercial flights each day.

Furthermore, DHL last week inaugurated two new gateways in North Asia costing US$56 million, namely, the DHL Express Incheon Gateway in South Korea and its new DHL Taipei Gateway at Taoyuan International Airport.

Source: Transportweekly