Tag: Germany

EU Probes Planned EUR 7.7 Million German State Funding For DHL

Posted by | Jun 27, 2007 | |

The European Commission Wednesday opened an investigation into a German government plan to give express company DHL Worldwide Express Inc. EUR7.7 million to support worker training.

The commission is worried DHL would train its workers without government help, making the state grant an unnecessary and potentially illegal subsidy. Under European Union rules subsidies are allowed if they support job creation and aren’t giving companies an unfair advantage over their competitors.

DHL, a unit of Deutsche Post AG (DPW.XE), is building a new parcel delivery and airfreight center in Leipzig-Halle, Germany. The site will have around 1,500 employees.

DHL plans to train about 480 of these workers as freight handlers, security guards and mechanics. The German government funds would account for 60 pct of the training scheme’s costs.

“I have concerns that DHL would have carried out this training project in any event, and therefore does not need the aid,” the commission’s top antitrust official Neelie Kroes said in a statement.

DHL’s competitors and other interest groups have been invited to weigh in on the planned subsidies. The commission said its investigation doesn’t prejudge whether the funds will be allowed.

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EU opens inquiry into 7 mln eur state aid for training scheme at DHL site

Posted by | Jun 27, 2007 | |

The European Commission said it has opened a formal investigation into 7 mln eur of state aid which Germany intends to allocate to a training project at a new DHL site in Leipzig-Halle, Germany.

DHL’s training project would derive around 60 pct of the costs from state aid.

The commission, however, said it doubts that the aid is compatible with EC Treaty rules, as much of the training seems to be required by law or be otherwise necessary to operate in the new location. It said DHL would have to provide the training to its employees even without the aid as the company must employ new workers in order to start operating.

Competition commissioner Neelie Kroes added: ‘I am always happy to approve training aid which has positive external effects for the society as a whole. However, in this case, I have concerns that DHL would have carried out this training project in any event, and therefore does not need the aid.’

DHL is a worldwide service provider in the parcel delivery and airfreight sector, wholly owned by Deutsche Post AG.

Following its move to Leipzig-Halle, DHL is currently building a new delivery and airfreight centre which is expected to become operational by the end of Oct 2007. DHL plans to employ around 1,500 people and to provide training to 480 employees.

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'NewCo' cargo airline established by DHL-Lufthansa

Posted by | Jun 27, 2007 | |

LUFTHANSA Cargo and DHL Express will establish a joint cargo carrier, commencing operations from Leipzig Halle airport in 2009.

Project name ‘NewCo’ will operate 10 freighters, most likely Boeing 777F or Boeing 747-400F aircraft. The new airline will fly intercontinental routes to North America, Asia and the Middle East, carrying express shipments and general cargo. The airline will be headed by Lufthansa manager Thomas Papke.

DHL was originally in negotiations with Cargolux and Emirates for such a venture. Insiders expect that personal relations between DHL and Lufthansa managers were key in the tie-up between the two companies. Klaus Zumwinkel, chairman of DHL’s parent company DPWN, is member of Lufthansa’s board of directors while Lufthansa’s former chief executive officer Jürgen Weber has a seat in DPWN’s board of directors.

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Leipzig elevated to hub status for Lufthansa

Posted by | Jun 26, 2007 | |

Lufthansa Cargo will discontinue freighter flights into and out of Cologne from October and transfer flights to Leipzig to coincide with the opening of the DHL Express Europe hub.

DHL Express and Lufthansa Cargo have been jointly operating a route network between Europe, Asia and the USA with their Aerologic intercontinental joint venture since March 2004. Up to 27 October 2007, a major proportion of that network will still be run through Cologne, but then be re-routed through Leipzig from 28 October. Lufthansa will be operating 21 MD-11s flights a week to Leipzig.

There will be no change in the other joint-venture flights:
Brussels – New York – Brussels (five flights weekly)
Frankfurt – East Midlands – Wilmington/Ohio – East Midlands – Frankfurt (once weekly)
East Midlands – Wilmington/Ohio – East Midlands (once weekly)
Additionally, Lufthansa will operate three of its own freighter flights from Leipzig to Atlanta (USA), the Korean capital Seoul and the Turkish capital Istanbul.

Cologne will remain a DHL and Lufthansa Cargo base, but Lufthansa will only be offering capacity ex Cologne in future for cargo carried in the bellies of passenger aircraft or by road feeder services. As a result of the switch to Leipzig, 35 staff will be withdrawn from cargo handling in Cologne and offered posts at other locations.

In 2008, Leipzig is scheduled to become the DHL Express central hub in its European express network.

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DHL launches New York overnight express to Europe

Posted by | Jun 25, 2007 | |

DHL, introduced the service for urgent next day documents from New York City to major European destinations.

Available for customers with shipments originating from lower Manhattan, DHL’s next day delivery trip begins with the pickup of urgent material by courier for transfer to the DHL helicopter pad in New York City. Shipments are then flown by helicopter directly to John F. Kennedy (JFK) airport, avoiding New York City traffic. From there, they move on flights bound for nine cities in Europe.

Available Monday thru Thursday, the new offering gives customers the ability to get their shipments delivered next business day from New York City to Amsterdam, Holland; Brussels, Belgium; Dublin, Ireland; Frankfurt, Germany; Geneva, Switzerland; London, England; Madrid, Spain; Paris, France; and Zurich, Switzerland. Next day by 12:00 noon delivery is available to some of the main financial centers in Europe.

For more than two decades, DHL has been leveraging its Manhattan helicopter to serve the financial district, and is the only express shipper to provide continual same day and overnight delivery of cash letters from Europe and Asia to the US banking system — a service vital to the world’s leading financial institutions. By cutting as much as a day off the time in transit for these shipments, financial institutions and their customers can save millions of dollars each year in otherwise lost interest and delayed business transactions.

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