DHL ups capacity in Panama

IN September, DHL is planning to increase its capacity at its hub at Panama City’s Tocumen International Airport, replacing 727 freighters with 757s. The integrator’s US$4.5 million regional hub, which had opened in 2008, increasingly sees origin/destination traffic, but transit to and from Latin America and the Caribbean remains at its heart.

Gary Schultheis (right), vice-president for the Americas of DHL Global Forwarding (DGF), is looking forward to the arrival of three 757 freighters later this year. The decision to replace 727s with the larger aircraft had been made with the intention of building up freight traffic, and the forwarding side of DHL sees a need for more lift.

“We’ve been screaming for more capacity,” Schultheis said. “Getting the 757s instead of the 727s makes 30 tons difference. We hope they’ll all be in place by the end of October.”

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