DHL steps up its presence at Marseille Provence Airport as it inaugurates a Hub that has doubled in size
◾An investment of over 8 million euros ◾The surface area of the warehouse has more than doubled, from 1,300 to 3,000 m2 ◾The workforce will also soon be doubled, increasing from 42 to 84 employees by the end of February ◾This is a response to increasing traffic: a 20% rise between 2014 and 2015 ◾A new direct flight to Algiers beginning on 18 January
Marseille, 15 January 2016 – The Hub of DHL Express, the leader in international express
transport, located at Marseille Provence Airport, has just reached a decisive milestone in its
development and opens a new international destination. Beginning on Monday 18 January,
the renovations carried out to extend and modernise this site will allow the company to add
Algeria to the list of countries with direct links from France via DHL Express.
This site, dedicated to international traffic and direct points of exchange with the countries of
North Africa, takes on a new dimension: the surface area of its warehouse as well as the
number of employees have more than doubled to handle the increase in traffic transiting
daily through its sorting lines. Between 2014 and 2015, the number of pieces handled for
import and export has increased by 20%, mainly due to the growth of traffic with Tunisia and
Malta.
Thus January 2016 sees the inauguration of a new-generation hub, offering 3,000m2 of
warehouse space, 300m2 of office space and almost 4,200m2 of outdoor space, compared
with 1,300m2 of warehouse space and 150m2 of office space previously. The extension and
modernisation project, begun in January 2015, required an investment of over 8 million
euros. Once recruitment is complete by the end of February 2016, improved working
conditions will be enjoyed by a total of around 84 employees, twice the size of the workforce
at the start of 2015.
Michel Akavi, CEO of DHL Express France: "Our Marseille hub plays a crucial role in our
exchanges with North Africa. By increasing both human and material resources to handle
this traffic, we are responding to the growth in volume and providing additional quality of
service to our customers. This investment demonstrates the importance of France for DHL
within its international infrastructure.
The Marseille hub is one of DHL's 19 regional hubs throughout the world and one of two in
France, the other being the Roissy Charles de Gaulle Airport site.
Hervé Allié, Director of Hubs DHL France: "This new hub will have a crucial impact on the
network. It will allow us to support the Leipzig and Brussels hubs. Thanks to its new
equipment, we are now able to handle the sorting of pieces from Leipzig and Brussels, which
we were previously unable to do. The Marseille platform will lighten the sorting activities on
these two sites."
Three times as many pieces handled per hour
The new Marseille hub boasts state-of-the-art equipment to optimise customer service and
offer employees an improved working environment. It is equipped with a fully motorised
sorting line to handle up to 5,500 pieces per hour compared with 1,850 previously, thus
almost tripling capacity. This capacity should allow us to significantly increase the number of
pieces handled, which is currently 7,000 to 8,000 per day for import (or 25 to 30 tonnes of
goods), and 2,000 to 2,500 pieces per day for export (or 7 to 8 tonnes).
The site is also equipped with Wi-Fi scanners to identify pieces in real time at the warehouse,
with X-ray machines, new conveyors, power lift trucks and lifting platforms to reduce handling
of pieces and optimise processing times.
Emilien Baron, Operations Manager at the Marseille Hub: "We now have all we need to
improve our operational performance, enhance our quality of service and win over new
markets, but that is not all! With this new hub, we also offer improved well-being to our
employees. They will enjoy a more comfortable working environment, in a building with better
lighting and new-generation equipment that reduces handling, etc. These new facilities help
us to take another step towards excellence and position ourselves as a leading employer and
provider".
DHL Express: a historic player in the economy of Marseille
Present in the region for 40 years, DHL Express has been at the Marseille Provence Airport
site since October 1997.
DHL initially covered the Bouches-du-Rhône region then gradually extended distribution to
other regions, now serving a total of twelve.
In 2013, in order to handle increasing traffic, DHL opted to transfer part of the sorting and
distribution business carried out on the airport site to a new branch, at Vitrolles. The goal was
to broaden its air transport and customs clearance business at the airport. DHL Express has
two major sites in the Marseille region, employing more than 130 people locally.
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