Category Archives: DHL Express

DHL Express and Singapore Airlines partnership takes off with new Boeing freighter aircraft

DHL Express has welcomed the arrival of its new Boeing 777F freighter at Singapore Changi Airport.

The freighter, which sports a dual DHL-Singapore Airlines (SIA) livery, has a maximum capacity of 102 tons.

SIA will operate it on routes to the United States of America via South Korea thrice weekly from August 2022.

In March 2022, DHL Express and SIA signed a Crew and Maintenance agreement to deploy five Boeing 777F freighters. These freighters will be operated by SIA pilots, with the maintenance overseen by SIA.

The second Boeing 777 freighter is slated to enter into service in November 2022, following which both freighters will operate the Singapore-Incheon-Los Angeles-Honolulu-Singapore route six times weekly.

The remaining three freighters are planned for delivery throughout 2023.

Following this, all five freighters will operate on routes between the United States and Singapore via points in North Asia and Australia.

Top Copyright Photo: DHL – Singapore Airlines Boeing 777F 9V-DHA (msn 67140) PAE (Nick Dean). Image: 958332.

Singapore Airlines aircraft photo gallery:

Neste and DHL Express announce one of the largest ever sustainable aviation fuel deals

Thorsten Lange, Executive Vice President Renewable Aviation at Neste and Frank Appel, CEO of Deutsche Post DHL Group. Photo: Deutsche Post DHL Group

DHL Express and Neste have announced a significant step towards decarbonizing aviation logistics by expanding their existing cooperation with a new strategic collaboration. In the next five years, Neste will supply DHL with approximately 320,000 tons (400 million liters) of Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel^TM. The agreement is Neste’s largest for Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) to date and one of the largest SAF agreements in the aviation industry.

Neste and DHL have been working together since 2020 making Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel available for DHL’s operations. In 2020, DHL Express became the first cargo operator to use Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel on flights departing from San Francisco International Airport and Amsterdam Airport. In 2021 DHL and Neste extended that cooperation to provide Neste’s SAF for DHL Express’ hub at the UK’s East Midlands airport.

In its Sustainability Roadmap, Deutsche Post DHL Group has committed to using 30 percent of SAF blending for all air transport by 2030. Neste’s SAF is produced from sustainably sourced, 100% renewable waste and residue raw materials. It can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 80%*, in its neat form and over the life cycle, compared to the fossil jet fuel it replaces, thereby significantly reducing DP-DHL’s carbon footprint.

Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel is an available solution today. As a drop-in fuel it can be used with existing aircraft engines and airport fuel infrastructure, requiring no extra investment to them. With the ongoing expansion of Neste’s Singapore refinery and modification to its Rotterdam refinery, Neste will have an annual production capacity for sustainable aviation fuel of 1.5 million tons (approx. 1,875 billion liters) by the end of 2023.

*) Calculated with established life cycle assessment (LCA) methodologies, such as CORSIA methodology

Singapore Airlines to operate Boeing 777F freighters for DHL

DHL Express, the world’s leading international express services provider, has entered into a Crew and Maintenance agreement (CM) with Singapore Airlines (SIA) to deploy five Boeing 777 freighters. This agreement marks a further step in DHL Express’ expansion of its intercontinental air network to meet customer demand in fast-growing international express shipping markets.

Mr Travis Cobb, Executive Vice President Global Network Operations and Aviation, DHL Express, said: “With the deployment of five Boeing 777 freighters, we can expand our express service linking the Asia Pacific region with the Americas. Following the pandemic, we see good prospects for strong growth in trans-Pacific trade lanes. By collaborating with Singapore Airlines, we see a unique chance to establish a long-lasting relationship with a long time partner who shares common values and operates at the highest standard.”

Based at Singapore’s Changi Airport and serving DHL’s South Asia Hub there, the freighters, which will sport a dual DHL-SIA livery, will be operated by SIA pilots on routes to the United States of America via points in North Asia. SIA will also oversee the maintenance of these aircraft.

The initial agreement is set for more than four years with the opportunity for an extension. As part of the agreement, the first aircraft delivery will be in July 2022, with the second in October 2022. The remaining three aircraft are planned for delivery throughout 2023.

DHL Express continuously invests to meet steady growth in cross-border time-sensitive shipments. It operates over 320 dedicated aircraft across its global network of 220 countries and territories. The Boeing 777 freighters are the world’s largest, longest range, and most capable twin-engine freighters that also contribute to DHL’s sustainability goals, reducing CO₂ emissions by 18% compared to the legacy Boeing 747-400s.

SIA’s cargo division operates to more than 90 destinations as part of its current network, which includes a fleet of freighters as well as the bellyhold space of the SIA and Scoot passenger aircraft. The airline recently ordered Airbus A350F freighters as part of its fleet renewal programme. SIA continues to invest in its cargo capabilities, capitalising on healthy demand fuelled by growth in e-commerce, fresh produce, and pharmaceuticals, among other segments.

DHL Express places a new order for six additional Boeing 777F freighters

DHL Express and Boeing today announced that the world-leading express service provider has placed an order for six additional 777 Freighters. The purchase takes DHL Express’ order book total to 28 777 Freighters since it placed its first direct order in 2018 for today’s largest and most capable twin-engine freighter.

DHL Express orders nine more 767-300 Boeing Converted Freighters (BCF)

DHL Express (DHL) and Boeing today announced that the logistics company placed a firm order for nine more 767-300 Boeing Converted Freighters (BCF). Representing their largest single 767-300BCF order to date, the additional freighters will help expand DHL’s long-haul intercontinental fleet in response to increased global demand for cargo capacity.

(Photo credit: Boeing)

DHL has taken delivery of seven of a batch of eight 767-300BCF, that have been leased to DHL partner airlines in the Middle East and Latin America to support its expanding regional networks.

The 767-300BCF is the world’s most efficient medium widebody converted freighter and can carry up to 51.6 tonnes (113,900 pounds) up to 6,190 kilometers (3,345 nautical miles). 767 Freighters provide the lowest operating costs per trip with excellent payload and range capability.

In other news, the Group will invest around EUR 60 million to purchase Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) for its East Midlands Hub in the UK until mid-2022.

This announcement was made:

As part of the COP26 climate conference, Deutsche Post DHL Group has announced a further step towards introducing climate-friendly aviation logistics. The Group has agreed a new partnership with Neste¹ to supply the DHL Express division with Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) at the UK’s East Midlands Airport. In total, DHL will purchase SAF for more than EUR 60 million by mid-2022, reducing around 70,000 tons of CO₂. This is a first step for the Group to reach its ambitious 2030 target of meeting at least 30 per cent of its fuel needs in aviation through sustainable fuels.

Neste will be the SAF’s main supplier to DHL Express at East Midlands Airport, supplying the company with the innovative new fuel. The renewable part is produced from Used Cooking Oil (UCO), while avoiding palm oil. The investment will enable DHL to transport 1,500 tons of air freight weekly in a more sustainable way from the UK on around 165 European and 35 intercontinental flights.

Furthermore, DHL Express is making use of the Renewable Transport Fuel Certificate (RTFC) incentive program. Schemes like the RTFC provide support to ramp up SAF in the market, which the Group highly welcomes. The company already introduced SAF in San Francisco (SFO) and Amsterdam (AMS) and plans to equip more airports with SAF this year.

_{¹ Neste will be the main supplier}

Atlas Air and DHL Express extend agreements for 20 freighters

Atlas Air, Inc., a subsidiary of Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, Inc., announced it has entered into contract extensions with DHL Express to continue operating 20 freighter aircraft in support of their fast-growing express and e-commerce markets.

These agreements build on the long-standing strategic partnership between Atlas Air Worldwide and DHL, which began in 2008 and included DHL acquiring 49% of AAWW’s subsidiary, Polar Air Cargo, as well as a long-term agreement for six dedicated 747-400Fs to operate on key Trans-Pacific routes.

The partnership has grown significantly over the years, and under these extended agreements, Atlas Air will continue to operate four different aircraft platforms for DHL Express, including:

Six Boeing 747-8 freighters
Two Boeing 747-400 freighters
Eight Boeing 777-200 freighters
Four Boeing 767-300 freighters

DHL unveils a new gateway facility at Bologna Airport, delivers 1 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses

DHL on September 15, 2021 cut the ribbon on a new argo facility at Bologna, Italy. The facility will be used by DHL Express Italy.

The facility is served from the Leipzig hub via a daily flight.

The new facility can handle over 17,000 shipments per hour.

Marco Finelli reporting from Italy.

In other news, DHL has announced 1 billion vaccine doses shipped to more than 160 countries in the fight against COVID-19 since December 2020.

COVID-19 has become the largest global health crisis in a century. Governments, NGOs, and public authorities have focused on containing the virus, accelerating vaccination programs to keep populations safe, and ensuring that economies recover quickly. Since the global vaccine campaign began in December 2020, DHL has safely delivered more than 1 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses to more than 160 countries, playing a key role in the global vaccination roll-out.

K-Mile Air to operate Boeing 737-800F freighters for DHL

DHL Express has made this announcement:

In anticipation of the upcoming e-commerce peak season where DHL Express expects orders and sales to rise significantly, the world’s leading international express service provider has expanded its airfreight capacity within Asia with a newly converted Boeing 737-800 freighter.

Operated by K-Mile Asia, a partner of DHL, the new aircraft offers a total gross payload of close to 140 tons weekly as it travels six times a week from Hanoi to Hong Kong and Bangkok before making its return to Hanoi. This is a 30 percent increase in capacity carried previously by the Boeing 737-400SF freighter, enabling better preparation and response to the anticipated growth in shipment volumes in the coming months.

The expanded capacity and increased flight frequency from five to six times per week will equally enable businesses and consumers from the three markets to capitalize on the growth in trade opportunities within Asia, as they benefit from quicker deliveries and shorter transit times.

The new Boeing 737-800 aircraft connecting Bangkok, Hong Kong and Hanoi joins three other aircraft in the fleet that concurrently and collectively serve Hong Kong, Phnom Penh, Singapore and Jakarta.

K-Mile Air, operating as K-Mile Asia, was established in 2004 as Thailand’s first express freight airline. Our initial operations began in 2006 with a Boeing 727 freighter between BKK and SIN. The fleet subsequently expanded to 3 such aircraft. These aircraft have since been retired in 2013.

In March 2014, Farnair Switzerland took a 45% stake in K-Mile Air. Since then ASL Aviation Holdings has taken over ownership of Farnair and has been a valuable partner with extensive domain expertise. ASL is a global aviation services provider with operations on 6 continents and a fleet of 140 aircraft in 6 airlines in Europe, South Africa and Asia.

Our Boeing 737-400SF operations were launched in July 2014 and continue to cater to the growing intra-Asia airfreight.

Our current scheduled routes include:

HAN-HKG-BKK-HAN / 5 rotations per week / since Nov 2014
PNH-BKK-SIN-BKK-PNH / 5 rotations per week / since Apr 2016
CGK-SIN-CGK (as an extension to the above route from SIN)/ 4 rotations per week / since Feb 2017

Our airline is managed and operated by a team of highly experienced aviation professionals, based at our offices at Suvarnabhumi Airport, Bangkok. K-Mile remains the only Thai freighter airline, with most of our business focused on air operations for express integrators and charter services across Southeast Asia.

Demand for connecting major cities within Southeast Asia is ever increasing, as is demand between Southeast Asian cities and major cities within China. K-Mile Air has a competitive advantage to best support this growth in trade and cross border e-commerce.

DHL orders 12 fully electric Alice eCargo planes from Eviation

DHL Express and Eviation, the Seattle-area based global manufacturer of all-electric aircraft, today write aviation history in announcing that DHL is the first to order 12 fully electric Alice eCargo planes from Eviation. With this engagement DHL aims to set up an unparalleled electric Express network and make a pioneering step into a sustainable aviation future. Eviation’s Alice is the world’s leading fully electric aircraft, which enables airlines – both cargo and passenger – to operate a zero-emission fleet. Eviation expects to deliver the Alice electric aircraft to DHL Express in 2024.

Eviation’s all-electric Alice eCargo jet.

Alice can be flown by a single pilot and will carry 2,600 lbs (1,250 kilograms). It will require 30 minutes or less to charge per flight hour and have a maximum range of up to 440 nautical miles (815 kilometers). Alice will operate in all environments currently serviced by piston and turbine aircraft. Alice’s advanced electric motors have fewer moving parts to increase reliability and reduce maintenance costs. Its operating software constantly monitors flight performance to ensure optimal efficiency.

SmartLynx Malta will support the Express Division of Deutsche Post DHL Group with two Airbus A321-200 freighter aircraft

DHL Express, the world’s leading express service provider, and SmartLynx Malta announce the signing of a new partnership agreement for the introduction of two newly converted Airbus A321-200 freighters joining DHL’s European air fleet. The new technically advanced narrow-body fleet type is adding capacity to meet the increasing demand for express cargo transportation worldwide combined with further improving DHL’s unit Co2 emissions by introducing the most fuel efficient narrow-body aircraft in its class.

SmartLynx is a family member of Avia Solutions Group, the largest aerospace business group from Central & Eastern Europe, and has extensive experience operating the A321 family of aircraft. This agreement sets a new hallmark as SmartLynx’s Malta subsidiary enters into the freighter market.

Smartlynx Malta is planning to add two additional A321Fs during 2021 and up to four units during 2022, with a business target of becoming one of the largest narrow-body cargo freight carriers within the next three years.