UPS to transfer intra-Asia air hub to Shenzhen from 2010

Global logistics service provider, UPS, said it will transfer its intra-Asia air hub to Shenzhen from Diosdado Macapagal (Clark) in the Philippines in order "to improve customer service by reducing transit times across Asia."  The 89,000-sq.-m. hub will be operational in 2010 and will "slash at least a day of shipment times-in-transit for Asian customers."

''Shenzhen's strategic location will provide significant time-in-transit and cost advantages, allowing UPS to better serve the growing Asian markets along these rapidly expanding trade lanes,'' said Derek Woodward, president of UPS Asia Pacific.

''We want to be where our customers need us most. Since we began flying directly to China in 2001, we have watched this region grow exponentially not only from a small package perspective but also in heavy air freight.''

Last year, UPS began building an international air hub operation at Shanghai Pudong airport, which, combined with other investments, has seen it spending $600 million in mainland China in the last few years.

Currently, the markets of China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and Taiwan account for more than half of the service provider's total intra-Asia volume. Of this, a sizeable proportion of Asia package export volume now originates in Hong Kong and southeast China, where the Shenzhen hub will be located.

''Given the growth in shipping along southern China, it makes sense to sort and dispatch this volume from a hub closer to our customers,'' explained Woodward.