JOC Staff | Apr 27, 2010 2:48PM EDT
UPS launched its new intra-Asia air hub in Shenzhen, China, marking a shift in operations from the Philippines that reflects the changed balance of trade within Asia.
“We want to be where our customers need us most,” Dan Brutto, president of UPS International, said in a statement. “Given the growth in shipping along the southern rim of China, it now makes more sense to sort and dispatch this volume from a hub closer to our customers.”
UPS opened the hub at the Shenzhen Baoan International Airport, just north of Hong Kong, as a replacement for its former hub at the Clark Air Base in the Philippines.
The million-square-foot facility cost $180 million and can handle 18,000 pieces an hour, with the ability to double the handling capacity.
The launch this month follows the opening last year of a UPS international hub at Shanghai’s Pudong International Airport, which connects directly to U.S. and Europe flights in the company’s global network. Shenzhen operations will link to major Asian cities for intra-Asia volume.
UPS opened the Shenzhen facility as it activated an expansion of its main Worldport hub at the Louisville International Airport. The expansion boosts the handling capacity there from 350,000 packages per hour to 416,000 an hour.
