DHL adds freighters to Asia network

DHL adds freighters to Asia network    DHL will invest 100 million euros ($144 million) for three Boeing 747-400 converted freighters to add to its Asia air network.
   Operated by Air Hong Kong, a joint venture between Cathay Pacific and DHL, the three planes, each with a 100-ton payload, will service three high-capacity routes six days a week, including Tokyo/Hong Kong, Singapore/Hong Kong and Shanghai/Hong Kong.
   Currently, two Airbus 300-600 cargo planes, each with a 45-ton payload, fly direct routes between Tokyo/Hong Kong and Shanghai/Hong Kong. By September, these two aircraft will be redeployed to service five weekly services between Beijing/Hong Kong and Manila/Hong Kong, replacing two 24-ton B727-200 freighters, which will be retired, the company said.
   DHL's investment in its air network comes at the heels of its recently announced additional daily intercontinental route from Hong Kong to Cincinnati in response to increasing demand for services from South China and Hong Kong to North America. Through this, customers gain later pickup times out of Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta, and overnight service to North America.
   The company is also on track to open its $175 million (120 million euro) North Asia hub in early 2012. Located at the Shanghai Pudong International Airport, the 57,000-square-meter facility will be built on a space of 88,000 square meters, equipped with the latest automated sorting systems.