DHL to invest €114m to expand Brussels regional hub
Deutsche Post DHL has announced plans to invest EUR 114m in its hub at Brussels Airport. The company said it will build a new state-of-the-art facility including a 31,500 square metre sorting centre and 5,000 sq m office complex.
The project will more than triple the hub’s capacity from 12,000 to 39,500 shipments per hour.
DHL said the move will help it respond to the expected further growth in international express shipments.
The expanded hub is expected to create 200 new jobs by 2020, the firm added. DHL currently employs about 1,000 at Brussels Airport, and 4,000 in Belgium.
Koen Gouweloose, managing director at DHL Aviation NV said: “The new hub will guarantee an even quicker and higher quality service. It will connect Belgian and other EU companies with 18 intra-European destinations and a number of important intercontinental destinations such as the US, China and Africa.
“In addition, DHL provides 64 road connections from Brussels directly to major business destinations in Europe. This will further reinforce the important position of Brussels in the European and global network, and strengthen Belgian trade connections with the rest of the world,” Gouweloose added.
Cross-border e-commerce
DHL set up its Brussels facility as a regional hub in 1985, but since then it has increasingly been used as an international transit hub. The facility has seen double-digit volume growth in the last five years thanks to its central location in Europe, the company said. It means that volumes are currently nearing full capacity levels.
The company said upgrading to add new capacity will help with the demand from cross-border e-commerce, and potentially mean later pick-up times for customers.
Danny Van Himste, Managing Director DHL Express Belgium and Luxembourg, explained: “We strongly believe that this investment will not only stimulate further development of the export activities of Belgian companies, but also meet the rising demand created by international e-commerce. After all, more possibilities for the hub in Brussels and our high-performance network of service centres throughout the country mean greater flexibility, later pick-up times and better service for our customers.”
DHL said it will reduce the environmental impact of the new facility through use of more efficient sorting technologies, better insulation, a natural gas-powered vehicle fleet, a solar power facility, environmentally-friendly lighting and other measures.
Plans would cut carbon emissions from the Brussels Hub by 768 tons of carbon dioxide per year, the company claimed.
