DHL: New daily flight to and from Israel

DHL International express delivery and courier company began last Tuesday its own daily cargo flights to and from Israel. The decision to introduce daily flights was taken in a bid to speed up delivery times and overtake market leader FedEx in the growing Israeli express shipping business.
 
DHL has, according to unofficial statistics, about 28 percent of Israel's USD$60 million a year outgoing air freight business. FedEx which already has its own cargo plane leads the market with 31 percent and UPS is third. For incoming deliveries, DHL estimates it has some 51 percent of the market to Israel.
 
Until the new service was introduced, DHL had used commercial airlines such as Israel's national carrier El Al, British Airways and Swiss International for its daily services.
 
Mr.David Bondi, managing director of DHL's Israeli operations, said in a press conference that with the new air service to the Israeli market, packages will arrive to their destinations as much as 50 percent faster and that shipment times will be cut by 24 hours. Bondi noted that packages from Israel to Western European destinations and to the East Coast of the United States will be delivered the next morning with the flight that leaves Israel at 1600 GMT connecting in Bergamo in Northern Italy before heading to the company's main international hub in Brussels. On its inaugural flight from Ben Gurion Airport late last Tuesday, DHL's Boeing 757 aircraft carried 20 tons of cargo. DHL serves more than 200 countries and has a fleet of some 35 aircraft that serves Europe.