TNT expects strong growth in the UK

TNT Express International UK’s divisional managing director, Stuart Stobie, has said he plans to double the size of the business by 2007.

He added that the company had doubled its profitability in the last three years since the arrival of Alan Jones, the group managing director. In that time, revenue for the UK operation has increased from £128 million to £146 million. TNT has also changed its business mix since 1999 away from less profitable larger accounts to smaller, higher yield customers.

Stobie said that 50 percent of TNT’s business now came from customers on TNT’s new “simplified” three band tariff, while the average customer spend was now £117 per week. TNT express has 65 depots in the UK and Ireland, and started operations from its newest UK hub at Cardiff airport last month.

Currently 85 percent of TNT Express’s worldwide revenue comes from Europe with 6 percent derived from the US. It recently announced block-space agreements in two seperate B747-400F operations connecting its Leige hub in Belgium, with the US and China.

First, it announced a deal with Polar Air Cargo to connect Belgium with New York, and then at the end of October, it launched an Atlas Air freighter to Shenzhen and Shanghai in conjunction with China Southern Airlines.

Christian Drenthen, TNT Express’s managing director air and road networks, said TNT was a “non-asset driven” operation, and would seek to further develop volumes into new markets using other people’s aircraft. TNT currently wet-leases an Atlas Air B747-400 freighter for operations on routes in Africa. Drenthen confirmed that the business model was being tested in preparation for the launch of a similar operation into Asia.