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In the NEWS DHL to build third KSA facility At a glance: DHL in Saudi Arabia DHL’s new facility will have capacity to: • Handle 4,000 shipments per hour. • Process more than 100,000 shipments everyday – scanning, weighing and capturing the details of every package. • Provide airside and landside dedicated in-house customs clearance capabilities.
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n preparation for a major expansion of its operations in Saudi Arabia, DHL has announced its biggest ground and air operations facility in Jeddah, a new SAR90m Jeddah Gateway which spans 15,000 sqm. The facility means DHL is the first international express provider to offer a direct network flight service into Jeddah’s King Abdel Aziz Airport, enabling the firm to introduce additional network flights into Jeddah as demand increases. Ken Allen, CEO of DHL Express, said: “Saudi Arabia has always been one of our key markets in the MENA region and we have seen enormous expansion 10 | Logistics News ME | November 2016
over the past two years, with the Jeddah facility being the latest of three new state-of-the-art facilities. “The Jeddah facility offers industryleading road and air express solutions and strengthens our already existing strong presence across the region. It demonstrates our commitment and confidence in the growth of the Saudi economy as we continue to enhance our capabilities and market-leading position in the region while fulfilling customers’ changing needs.” Faysal El Hajjami, country manager, DHL Express Saudi Arabia, added: “This is a real statement about DHL’s commitment to our operations and our
customers in the Kingdom as we open the doors to our third – and largest – air and ground operations facility. “DHL is continuing to set new standards for the logistics industry across the Kingdom and we will continue to work closely with our key partners and customs officials ensuring that our customers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia receive the highest levels of service.” As the third facility in the Kingdom it brings DHL’s investments to over SAR 200 million, with two other facilities already operational in Dammam and Riyadh, since 2014 and 2015 respectively.