DHL, the world's leading express and logistics company, today announced the introduction of two new direct overnight express services between Beijing and Hong Kong and between Shanghai and the United States. The new flights bring a new dimension of connectivity for consumers and businesses in China, offering seamless connections from the world's fastest growing economy to Asia and the US.

The daily Shanghai-US flight will be operated by Northwest Airlines with a Boeing 747-200 freighter aircraft, while the four times weekly Beijing service will utilise a Cathay Pacific A330-200 passenger aircraft from DHL's Central Asia Hub in Hong Kong.

These new direct flights underscore DHL's commitment to provide the most extensive air network possible for customers in China. With the addtion of these new flights, DHL customers will benefit from later pick-up cut-off and earlier delivery times.

Jerry Hsu, President for Greater China and Korea, DHL Express said, "This new development will position DHL to respond to the tremendous growth in demand for express services driven in part by a surging Chinese economy. The new Shanghai-US service belies our confidence in China, which is today one of the fastest growing markets in DHL's global network, registering an annual growth rate of 50-60% in 2004."

China continues to be a key market for DHL and a significant engine of growth for DHL's business in the Asia Pacific. The company, which has been operating in China for almost 20 years, has embarked on a five-year US$273 million strategic investment programme as part of a wider initiative to reinforce its market leadership as an integrated 'one-stop' supply chain solutions provider in China with both international and domestic offerings. The company's joint venture DHL-Sinotrans is the market leader in China with a 40% share of the express delivery market.

New flights details

The route directly connects Shanghai with Anchorage in the United States and onward to DHL's hubs in Cincinnati and Los Angeles, feeding into DHL's U.S. network. Shanghai is also directly connected to DHL's Central Asia Hub in Hong Kong via a direct flight between Hong Kong and Shanghai operated by Dragonair.

The four times weekly Beijing service will operate on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday inbound to DHL's Central Asia Hub in Hong Kong, one of DHL's two major hubs in the Asia Pacific. The outbound service from Hong Kong to Beijing will operate on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

Besides Beijing, DHL also offers direct connections to Shanghai from Hong Kong and connects Guangzhou and Shenzhen by road to Hong Kong.

The addition of these two new services brings to 27 the total number of destinations served by DHL's dedicated air network. The aircraft utilised for the two new services increases the number of aircraft serving DHL's existing dedicated air operations in the region to over 20. This allows capital cities and other major business centres to be interconnected through DHL's regional hubs and gateways, providing DHL's customers with overnight services across Asia Pacific.

The new services follow the recent addition of a new dedicated overnight express service between Nagoya and DHL's Central Asia Hub in Hong Kong.