DHL officially inaugurates Americas hub at CVG

Express delivery and logistics services provider DHL recently announced it has officially inaugurated its expanded $105 million Americas hub at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky (CVG) Airport.

This inauguration represents the culmination of a four-year plan for DHL to augment its CVG facility in an effort to meet the growing international shipping demand of large multinational corporations as well as small business customers.

“The completion of the CVG hub is a further milestone in the continuous expansion of our international express network,” said Frank Appel, CEO Deutsche Post DHL, in a statement. “We are growing, building for the future and providing U.S. companies with the logistics support they need to succeed globally.”

DHL officials said that the new enhancements to its Americas hub include:
-a new 180,000 square-foot sorting facility specifically designed to accommodate larger express shipments;
-an expanded south ramp for additional wide-body aircraft;
-an employee and pilot building; and
-a facility-wide information technology upgrade

A DHL spokesman told LM earlier this year that this expansion was driven by the successful realignment of its business to focus exclusively on international services and growth in its import and export business, leading to “a need to continue to adjust its operation to meet the growing demands of international shipping customers.”

The spokesperson added the CVG expansion positions DHL’s largest facility in North America for continued growth in package volume. But even with this expansion growth the company has no plans to return to serving the U.S. domestic market.

DHL moved its U.S. hub operations to CVG in July 2009. DHL’s U.S. business focuses on international import and export offerings in major metropolitan areas. It ceased U.S. domestic-only air and ground services at the end of January 2009, due largely to the ongoing uphill battle it faced competing with industry giants UPS and FedEx for market share.

And since DHL reopened operations at CVG in 2009, DHL said it has seen its international business grow dramatically, benefitting not only DHL but the local community with job growth and the Cincinnati / Northern KY International Airport with additional flights.

DHL said that this hub resides “at the heart” of the DHL U.S. network with flights connecting customers from more than 220 countries and territories worldwide to the entire U.S., adding that the CVG hub completes the backbone of the DHL intercontinental network along with its Hong Kong and Germany hubs.

In March 2012, DHL made a $47 capital commitment towards a 193,000 square-foot sort facility and add about 280 jobs to the DHL CVG hub to provide it with more space to handle heavy weight non-conveyable cargo,” according to Mike Parra, senior vice president and head of operations for DHL Express Americas, in an interview.

“It’s geared to meet the continued growth in package volume that we’re seeing.  It should make the operation at CVG even more efficient and will provide the infrastructure needed to meet DHL’s expected growth over the next 10 years.”

In February 2011, DHL said it would begin building on 19 acres of land leased from the CVG Airport Authority to expand its existing aircraft apron and construct nine new aircraft gates. They added that this will enable parking for nine additional wide-body aircraft that will connect the U.S. to points in Asia, Europe, and the Americas.