DHL will invest 80 million in an international 'hub' at Barcelona Airport

The multinational freight transport company DHL plans to start construction of a new logistics center at Barcelona-El Prat Airport in which it will invest 80 million euros. The project will be developed on a 28,500 square meter plot where a 10,000 square meter warehouse will be built to operate as an international parcel distribution hub.

According to the subsidiary of the Deutsche Post Group, the platform will enter service in the first quarter of 2025 and "will position Barcelona as a key location in DHL's international urgent parcel transport." "It will be an essential and much-needed facility to continue supporting the business growth of Catalan companies, particularly for their urgent shipments, both import and export," explained the company, which highlights the need to gain capacity in Catalonia given the global growth of e-commerce.

The new warehouse, which is the result of a concession contract that DHL Express signed with Aena in July 2022, will have an automated conveyor belt for parcels with a capacity to sort 10,000 pieces per hour and another for small packages or flyers (bags or envelopes) with a capacity for 7,500 pieces per hour. In total, the platform's processing capacity will exceed 20,000 pieces per hour, which will be dispatched using a fleet of 120 delivery vans. In addition, a mezzanine will be built where there will be more than 3,500 square meters for offices.

DHL obtained the building permit last April, but to start construction, a medium voltage line must first be removed from the site. "We understand that Aena continues to work at the highest level so that this power line can be removed as soon as possible," explained Jesús Sánchez, general director of DHL Aviation Iberia.

Currently, DHL Express Spain has 3 operational hubs located in Madrid, Barcelona, and Vitoria, which operate as connection centers with the company's international network. In addition, there are 6 gateways or national connections in Alicante, Palma de Mallorca, Santiago de Compostela, Seville, Valencia, and the Canary Islands. The company also has 16 of its own aircraft that make 46 daily flights and cover 17 commercial routes.

 "DHL Express works with more than 20,000 clients in Spain, most of them SMEs. Many need help and advice to open up beyond our borders. The new Barcelona hub will be fundamental in this objective, helping companies to be more competitive in international markets", said Miguel Borrás, general director of DHL Express Spain. DHL employs nearly 395,000 employees worldwide and belongs to the Deutsche Post DHL Group, which generated revenues of more than 94,000 million euros in 2022.