DHL expands airfreight capacity with more Sydney connections

DHL EXPRESS is growing its flight network to serve growing demand between Oceania, Asia Pacific, and the US and Europe.

With new Boeing 777 freighters, the flight routs will offer nearly 2350 tonnes of total capacity per week.

One of the aircraft – operated by DHL’s partner airline Kalitta Air – is flying five times a week from the US to DHL’s South Asia hub in Singapore via Sydney. From Singapore the aircraft will make stops in Hong Kong and Japan before returning to the US.

Additionally, Kalitta Air will operate a new freight route between Singapore and Sydney six times a week.

Another aircraft – operated by AeroLogic, a joint-venture cargo airline of DHL Express and Lufthansa Cargo – will fly six times a week from Leipzig to Hong Kong and Singapore before making a stop at Bahrain and returning to Leipzig.

DHL Express’s South Asia Hub in Singapore as the common point of transit will help to consolidate and facilitate deliveries from Asia Pacific to the US and Europe.

DHL Express Asia Pacific CEO Ken Lee said businesses and consumers from Australia and New Zealand can expect the transit time for their shipments to and from the US and Europe to improve as they look to expand their reach to the rest of Asia Pacific, the US and Europe.

“Shipment volumes into and out of the Oceania region have grown exponentially,” he said.

“Our investment in the new aircraft and dedicated flight routes with increased frequency signify our confidence in the region’s growth trajectory and equally demonstrate our commitment to facilitate global trade as the economy heals.”

DHL said cross-border ecommerce in Asia Pacific continues to be a strong growth driver.

Estimated to reach US$2.5 trillion by 2024, online retail in Asia Pacific is expected to get a boost as shoppers become increasingly comfortable with online and mobile shopping.

Across Oceania, exports have been growing, with Australia and New Zealand accounting for more than 90 percent of all goods originating from the region, according to DHL.

Air cargo demand in January 2021 has returned to pre-COVID levels (January 2019), according to IATA, but cargo capacity remains limited as a result of shortage of belly capacity in passenger aircraft.

DHL Express Asia Pacific executive vice-president network operations and aviation Sean Wall said e-commerce has taken the world by storm.

“The rapid growth of e-commerce will continue to demand higher efficiency and delivery speed from supply chains and airfreight transportation in the mid to long-term,” he said.

In 2018, DHL ordered 14 new Boeing 777F aircraft, with 10 delivered by the end of 2020, and the remaining four to be taken into service in 2021.

In January 2021, DHL ordered an additional eight new Boeing 777 freighters with first deliveries scheduled for 2022.

With a payload capacity of 102 tonnes and a range of 9600 km, the B777F has the largest capacity and range of all twin-engine freighter aircraft.

DHL Express operates more than 280 dedicated aircraft with 17 partner airlines on more than 2200 daily flights across more than 220 countries and territories.