DHL opens logistics gateway hub at Vienna Airport

Yesterday, DHL opened its new logistics hub at Vienna Airport (VIE). The hub will provide multimodal access to transport for the company’s DHL Global Forwarding and DHL Freight network and will serve as a gateway for the company in and out of Austria and Eastern Europe. 

The new logistics hub includes two freight terminals, each about 12,000 square meters. DHL Global Forwarding warehouse and handling will use 5,000 square meters of the space, while DHL Freight will conduct its operations in the remaining 7,000 square meters. The hub will also include over 1,200 square meters of temperature-controlled facilities that will support DHL Global Forwarding’s ability to meet surrounding markets’ growing biopharmaceutical logistics and transport services demand.  

Before the opening of this new hub, DHL Global Forwarding and DHL Freight operated from three separate locations around Vienna. DHL’s Vienna operations will now be consolidated into the hub at VIE. 

Beyond this new development at VIE, DHL recently extended its lease with Bahrain International Airport (BAH), opened a new Gibraltar-area logistics hub in Morocco and announced plans to upgrade its Borneo Kota Kinabalu International Airport (BKI) facility in a string of Malaysian investments. 

For VIE, DHL’s consolidation of operations at its airport demonstrates the continued growth in logistics providers interest in the region. Last year, Austrian logistics services company cargo-partner launched a facility near the airport, while DHL and Austria’s Rail Cargo Group signed an agreement to expand China’s Belt and Road plan by developing an intermodal rail network connecting Vienna and China’s western city of Chengdu. VIE also recently adopted Nallian’s cloud platform to allow stakeholders at the airport to operate in an integrated way through data-sharing. 

By the end of 2018, VIE’s cargo handle had increased 4.4% compared to 2017’s total handle, ultimately reaching 215,921 tonnes of cargo moving through the airport for the year. So far in 2019, however, VIE has seen a decline in volumes each month – volumes declined by 2.8%, 1.7% and 1.4% y-o-y for January, February and March, respectively. For the first quarter, cargo volumes declined by 2.0% to 66,641. 

In the region, VIE’s greatest competition currently is Budapest International Airport (BUD). BUD is seen as an emerging player in the Eastern European air cargo market and recently hosted a Chinese delegation, following which, the airport inked agreements with China’s Xi’an (XIY) and Zhengzhou (CGO) airports to develop new aviation links. 

In the construction of this new gateway hub, DHL said that it focused on sustainable building practices and the use of renewable energy in line with Deutsche Post DHL Group’s target to achieve zero-emission logistics by the year 2050. The new hub also meets the highest Transported Asset Protection Association security standards, according to DHL.