DHL Reports Record Shipment Weight Growth In Asia-Pacific Region.

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 31, 1995--DHL Worldwide Express reported strong growth in the international air express network's Asia-Pacific market during the first six months of 1995, with record shipment weight growth.

Patrick Foley, chairman and CEO of DHL Airways, Inc., the U.S. arm of the DHL network, announced that intra-Asian shipment weight for the first two quarters of 1995 increased a record 48 percent over the comparable period last year. U.S. outbound shipment weight to the Asia-Pacific region also increased 35 percent over the same period.

The weight growth is the result of increased business use of expedited shipping for items that have previously been moved on a less timely basis, saving businesses the costs associated with large inventories.

"DHL's growth in the Asia-Pacific region continues as one of the strongest in our worldwide delivery network," said Foley. He credited the sharp gains to "confidence by shippers in DHL's quarter century of experience in the region, the continued strength of the Asian economy, and DHL's superior ground operations in the region."

"A key element to the success of DHL, and a point that is often ignored, is a reliable ground operation that ensures the quick movement of shipments off of planes, through customs and to their ultimate destinations," said Foley. "The DHL Worldwide Express network has more than twice as many employees in the Asia-Pacific region as any other air express carrier." FedEx, for example, continues to hand off packages to third-party "agent" couriers in such Asian markets as China and Thailand.

In many cases, customers of U.S. air express companies are unaware that their U.S. outbound shipments to key Asian countries will not be delivered by the same company that picks them up. The DHL Worldwide Express network has its own personnel in the top Asia-Pacific countries, ensuring that the same standards of service apply in all of the 224 countries that DHL serves. "Without a well-established ground distribution system and strong relationships with local customs officials, shipments can sit for days waiting to clear customs or end up with unreliable agent couriers," said Foley.

Foley said that the DHL Worldwide Express network is expanding its Asia-Pacific operations which currently include hubs in Hong Kong and Singapore, and will invest $700 million over the next three years to enhance its long-standing service to the region. This expansion includes an intra-Asian hub in Manila, the Philippines. "Upgrades to the increasingly important Asian market are a major component of DHL's five year, $1.25 billion worldwide capital investment program."

DHL has been recognized for the past nine years at the Asian Freight Industry Awards as the "Best Express Service" for its superior service in the Asia-Pacific region. The international air express leader has also outperformed its competition in independently conducted transit time research of deliveries between the U.S. and key Asian cities.

DHL Worldwide Express is the world's largest and most experienced international air express network, linking more than 80,000 cities in more than 200 countries. DHL Worldwide Express is comprised of DHL International, Ltd., headquartered in Brussels, which serves all locations outside the U.S. and its territories, and DHL Airways, Inc., headquartered in Redwood City, California, which serves all locations within the U.S. and its territories and their agents and affiliated companies.

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CONTACT: DHL Worldwide Express

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