Manama: Two Boeing 767 Aircraft have been added to the fleet of DHL Express Middle East and North Africa, the Bahrain-headquartered regional distribution hub of DHL.
The DHL 767s were unveiled at the Bahrain International Air Show 2016, which DHL supported following a two-year accord signed between the company and BIAS organisers at the Paris Air Show in 2013.
“The expansion of our Mena air fleet further demonstrates our commitment to investing in the region; by enhancing our air capabilities we will serve more destinations with greater speed, flexibility and reliability, increasing frequencies and bettering our links to significant trade markets regionally and internationally,” said DHL Aviation Middle East and Africa vice-president Malcolm Macbeth.
With the Bahrain International Airport as its base, DHL Aviation MEA is a cargo airline wholly-owned by Deutsche Post DHL and operator of the group’s DHL Express-branded parcel and express services in the Middle East and Africa.
The Boeing 767s will be deployed to a number of destinations across DHL’s regional network, increasing flight frequencies to key markets such as Saudi Arabia, UAE, Afghanistan and Pakistan, with potential to utilise them on additional routes depending on demand.
The two wide-bodied aircraft have a maximum take off weight of around 159,200kg and will complement DHL’s narrow-body Boeing 757-200s operations in the region, bringing its total fleet size to 11 planes and increasing the number of weekly flights to 155 across Mena.
The Boeing 767-200s are powered by General Electric CF6-80A engines and are fuel and energy efficient.
“We plan to increase the number of DHL aircraft and continue to upgrade our regional fleet with larger more fuel and energy efficient planes to maximise volume capacity, increase reach, frequencies and also improve our CO2 efficiency.
“These 767s burn approximately 5,000kg of fuel per hour and have already reduced our carbon emissions by approximately 425 tonnes per month in total.
“We should see an average overall reduction of eight per cent in emissions, if not more, with the addition of the two B767s, and this will further complement our fleet of B757 freighters which are the most cost efficient aircraft available today in the regional freighter industry,” added Mr Macbeth.
DHL Aviation also plans to increase its Bahrain-Beirut flights to five per week, starting next month, providing clients with a consistent, frequent and more reliable service into Lebanon.
The additional flights will also offer a solution to general and road freight that cannot pass through Syria and help enhance service quality on key lanes, expanding Bahrain’s network to include Asia lanes and improved connection from its Hong Kong route.
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