DHL Express has opened a new logistics hub at Milan’s Malpensa Airport (MXP), valued at €110 million (US$131 million) euros, as part of a €350 million (US$418 million) investment plan in Italy.
The company will operate over 30 daily flights from the new hub and nearly 38,000 pieces per hour through automated sorting and scanning systems, it noted, enabling 12 times more operational capacity. It integrates both air cargo services and a service centre for last mile pick-up and delivery. The facility currently employs 900 people and could increase by 10 percent during peak periods.
DHL said the development at MXP represents one third of its total investments in Italy, making it the fourth biggest European hub, along with Leipzig, East Midlands in the UK and Brussels.
“The Malpensa Hub is the flagship of our strengthening strategy in Italy, in which we have an ambitious investment plan of over 350 million euros with the aim of being the partner of companies that produce and export Italian excellence in the world,” said Nazzarena Franco, CEO of DHL Express Italy.
“Lombardy represents one third of the country’s exports thanks to a dynamic entrepreneurial system and highly innovative supply chains such as IT, textiles, fashion, aeronautics, automotive and with the new hub we want to contribute to the growth of Italian exports,” Franco noted.
The express operator said the facility was built in full compliance with DPDHL Group’s GoGreen strategy, with all industry verticals served by DHL Express managed in the hub, including manufacturing, luxury, e-commerce, automotive, chemical and aeronautics.
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The new hub can process express shipments to and from Italy through the airports in Ancona, Pisa and Naples, with transit to other parts of Europe on Leipzig, Brussels, Paris, Barcelona, Vitoria, London, East Midlands, Cologne, Zagreb, Athens, Budapest and Thessaloniki. Shipments can also be moved outside Europe to Bahrain, Seoul and Cincinnati.
“The pandemic has not only changed our current lives, but also changed our future,” said Alberto Nobis, CEO of DHL Express Europe.
“Globalization and digitalization play a crucial role in the economic recovery from Covid-19. They enable e-commerce and cross-border trade, which nurtures an increasing demand on express services. With our new logistics hub in Italy, we can react to this increase in demand by further connecting markets internationally,” he added.
DHL Express Italy said it has been managing the delivery of Covid-19 vaccines since the end of last year, including distribution to the regional and national health system, from the Malpensa hub.
