DHL Express officially opened its new Brussels Airport hub, an investment of over €140m

On Thursday 22 February 2018 DHL Express officially opened its new logistics centre at Brussels Airport. The hub, an investment of over 140 million euros including lease expenses, is also good news for employment as 200 new jobs have been created. The total surface of the state-of-the art building is 36,500 m2. Thanks to the most recent logistics technology, the capacity has been quadrupled to 42,000 parcels per hour.

On the opening of the new building Arnaud Feist, Brussels Airport CEO commented: “The new DHL logistics centre is a stunningly innovative and environmentally friendly building, offering more capacity and much faster processing of parcels. An important step in the further development of the Brussels Airport logistics activities.”

Ken Allen, CEO DHL Express said: “Brussels plays a crucial role in the worldwide DHL Express network. Brussels Hub is one of our largest hubs in the world and because of its location in the logistics heart of Europe, it also plays an important role in connecting companies from this region with the world. This new hub is a key part of our worldwide investment plan and will support our growth, the efficiency of our network and the high level of quality for which customers turn to DHL Express.”

The new 36,500m² hub (including warehousing and offices) almost quadruples the capacity of DHL Express in Brussels. At full capacity, the hub’s two automated sorting systems can process up to 42,000 packages per hour, making it the fifth largest hub in the global DHL network. It offers air and ground links to a broad number of European destinations, as well as direct intercontinental connections to the Americas, Middle East and Africa.

Koen Gouweloose, Vice President of DHL Brussels Hub, said: “This new hub is a great example of some of the latest state-of-the-art logistics technology. It allows us to process even more packages even more quickly and efficiently. As a hub, this allows us to play an important role in the network, while paying close attention to security and working conditions for our 1,200 employees, who are in turn ensuring that our clients are receiving the great service they expect from DHL Express.”

At the official opening of the new hub, DHL Express welcomed 200 VIP guests, among them Belgian politicans, including Vice Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior Jan Jambon, Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Agenda, Telecom and Postal Services Alexander De Croo, Federal Minister of Mobility François Bellot, and Flemish Minister of Mobility Ben Weyts, and major customers, such as the RSC Anderlecht football club and luxury leatherwear producer Delvaux.

Danny Van Himste, Managing Director of DHL Express Belgium and Luxembourg, said: “The new hub allows us to provide an even better service to our customers. We can help Belgium be even better connected to Europe and the world. We are addressing the needs of customers of all sizes and from all industry sectors in the Belgian market. With the hub giving us extra capacity, speed and flexibility, national borders should be no barrier to our customers.”

As part of DHL’s GoGreen program the new hub reduces the company’s ecological footprint by 768 tons of CO² per year, thanks to its more efficient sorting techniques and better insulation. It is also certified to the TAPA ‘A’ security standards.