DHL Express is adding more air freight capacity to as it looks to serve the growing demand between Asia Pacific and the US and Europe for express shipments fuelled by the rapid growth of e-commerce.

The express operator will deploy two B777 freighters operated by Kalitta Air and Aerologic and the scheduled flight routes will offer close to 2,350 tonnes of capacity each week. The twin-engine freighter aircraft has a payload capacity of 102 tonnes and a range of 9,600 km, making it ideal for long-haul routes.

The B777F operated by Kalitta Air will fly five times a week from the US to the hub in Singapore (SIN) via Sydney (SYD) and will make stops in Hong Kong (HKG) and Japan (Nagoya) before making the return flight to North America. The airline will operate a new flight route that flies between SIN and SYD six times a week.

Meanwhile, the B777F operated by AeroLogic will fly six times a week from Leipzig (LEJ) to Hong Kong (HKG) and Singapore (SIN) before making a stop in Bahrain (BAH) and returning to LEJ.

Also read: DHL Express opens $131m hub at Malpensa Airport

Scheduling both Kalitta Air and AeroLogic flights to cross load in Singapore places a growing significance of the hub, which connects Oceania to the rest of the world, the company noted.

“With the new routes, businesses and consumers from Australia and New Zealand can expect the transit time for their shipments to and from the US and Europe to improve as they look to expand their reach to the rest of Asia Pacific, the US and Europe,” said Ken Lee, CEO, DHL Express Asia Pacific.

DHL Express’ air network in Asia Pacific is supported by four main hubs in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore and Bangkok, linking to 50 gateways in the region. In Singapore, the South Asia Hub in Singapore is served by 11 dedicated aircraft with over 340 weekly flights.