DHL starts new air freight service from Avinor Oslo Airport to Seoul & Shanghai

Oslo Airport, the biggest air cargo market in the Nordic region with a 32 % growth in cargo this year, is further strengthening its role as the largest and preferred Nordic freighter hub. By setting up a new route with DHL to Seoul and Shanghai, Oslo Airport is building on its already strong growth in overseas cargo capacity.

- For the past year, we have been working closely with DHL Global Forwarding to establish new flights that can serve the strong global demand for Norwegian seafood and bring the different regions in Norway closer to the world markets. Avinor’s close cooperation with DHL has resulted in several new routes such as Lakselv and Seoul, increasing the competitiveness of Norwegian Seafood export and strengthening the position of Oslo Airport as the leading freighter hub in the Nordics, says Martin Langaas, Director of Cargo in Avinor.

This is supported by Norways Minister of Transport and Communications, Ketil Solvik-Olsen.

- Seafood from Norway is popular in markets around the world. It is important to facilitate good international transport for these products. The market has been trying to find a way to transport seafood from northern Norway to Asia for some time. Earlier this year DHL opened a cargo route from Lakselv to Oslo. A new service from Oslo to Seoul and Shanghai will make it possible to transport fresh seafood all the way from Lakselv to Asia in a fast and efficient manner. We note that the service is starting out as a series of charter flights, which will be the basis for scheduled flights if the service is economically viable. We are pleased that this new service now becomes a reality.

Capacity from Lakselv also expanding

- DHL aims to be the leading seafood logistics provider in Norway. Our work with Avinor has been very constructive, and we are delighted to be able to present yet another service designed for the seafood industry. This route will save our customer’s time on connections to South Korea, Shanghai and to the rest of DHL’s global network, says Henk Venema, Senior Vice President and Global Head of Network Carrier Management at DHL Global Forwarding.

- From Northern Norway, we will be providing an absolutely unique product for the region, with a connection to our existing service from Lakselv. We will be delivering seafood from Lakselv to the market in South Korea and China in less than 24 hours. With the launch of our new service to Seoul, we also expand our service from Lakselv from one to two flights a week, adds Trond Ørjan Olsen, Head of Airfreight, DHL Global Forwarding, Freight Norway.

There will be two flights a week on the new service from Oslo Airport to Seoul and Shanghai, on Tuesdays and Fridays, with a Boeing 747-400.

Avinor owns and operates Norway's main airport, Oslo Airport, which is an important communications hub in Norway with over 25 million travellers per year.