DHL hits Singapore Changi handling costs
DHL Worldwide said that high ground-handling costs at Changi Airport, Singapore’s main international airport, are hindering expansion in the island-state, the Business Times reports.
Uwe Doerken, chief executive of DHL Express, said the DHL group, which has invested more than $1 billion in the Asia Pacific region since 2000, was looking to further expand its operations here, but costs were a prime concern.
“In order for us to expand our presence at the airport, it is necessary to get the right cost structure for handling, and the right handling concessions, so we can operate here like we are operating at our other major international hubs like Hong Kong, Brussels, Cincinnati and others…At the moment, the handling costs here at Singapore are not competitive,” the paper quoted Doerken as saying.
Doerken was in Singapore for the opening of DHL’s new Asia Pacific regional office. The office will house the group’s regional management staff from both its Express and Danzas Air & Ocean divisions as part of DHL’s global integration and rebranding following its recent takeover by Germany’s Deutsche Post World Net.
The report said DHL has been eyeing Bangkok as a possible alternative to expanding its hub activities here should the cost situation at Changi not improve.
