DHL inaugurates EEMEA aviation regional head office in Bahrain
The inauguration follows the transfer of two of DHL’s main aviation services centres from Africa and Europe to Bahrain allowing the company to focus more on the customers’ needs.
The move entailed the operations of the Harare and Brussels-based centres being merged and relocated to Bahrain, to serve the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe (EEMEA) from one central base.
Regional Director for EEMEA Aviation, Mick McEwen said: ‘Due to the evolution and fast development of the aviation sector in the area, we saw it to be more effective to have Aviation run by one expanded senior management team in a single location. Bahrain has an excellent geographical location in close proximity to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the Levant as well as the UAE, which is of great benefit to our new centralised Aviation Office.’
Prior to July 2007, EEMEA Aviation functioned as three independent areas and was broken down as follows: Sub Sahara Africa, Middle East and Commonwealth Independent States, Eastern Europe and North Africa (CISEENA).
‘The centralization will allow DHL Aviation EEMEA to focus more on the customers’ needs, with the company able to react quicker to market demands with an in-depth concentration on Customer Operations, Key Accounts and General Sales’, McEwen added.
In the EEMEA region, DHL operates 44 aircraft flying approximately 54,000 block hours annually. It is a diversified and complex region with a large geographical area to service, which requires a viable mix of aircraft and flexibility in scheduling.
The Middle East aviation network operates 16 aircraft, and extends to at least 20 cities in the area that include Jeddah, Dubai, Doha, Kuwait, Baghdad, Lahore, and Kabul.
