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2003 Press Releases
HONG KONG, November 6, 2003 - FedEx Express, a subsidiary of FedEx Corp. (NYSE:FDX), further strengthened its service in the growing Asia to Europe cargo lane when it became the first U.S. air carrier to operate a regularly scheduled flight into Kazakhstan, using the country's largest city and business hub, Almaty, as a refueling stop for its Hong Kong to Paris flight.
"The trade ties between European and Asian nations continue to strengthen and FedEx has focused considerable attention on enhancing our services in the Asia to Europe cargo lane," explained David L. Cunningham, Jr. President, FedEx Asia Pacific Division. "This flight enables us to offer our customers across the Asia Pacific region tangible benefits including: later cut off times, greater capacity, and extensive connectivity to a wide range of European destinations for Asian shippers."
Routing the flight through Kazakhstan enables FedEx to increase its cargo capacity between Hong Kong and Paris by adding an additional 55,000 pounds to each flight. Customers in Hong Kong will also be able to drop off their shipments more than six hours later. This change will allow additional time for express freight to be trucked from major points in Southern China to Hong Kong for the morning departure.
According to the Boeing 2002-2003 World Air Cargo Forecast, Asia and Europe cargo traffic is projected in the long-term to grow 7.1 percent per year westbound and 6.8 percent eastbound. FedEx international business expansion has been led primarily by its Asia Pacific region, which experienced 9 percent export volume growth last quarter as a result of increased trade with Europe and North America.
For the Hong Kong-Almaty-Paris flight, FedEx Express will utilize an existing MD-11 that served Dubai and Bombay from the company's Asia Pacific hub in Subic Bay, the Philippines, to its European hub at Charles DeGaulle Airport. The company will add an Airbus A310 that will operate round trip from Dubai to Bombay and connect four times a week to an existing Dubai-Paris flight.
In September, FedEx Express was awarded 13 additional frequencies in and out of Hong Kong by the United States Department of Transportation, reinforcing its position as the U.S. carrier with the greatest number of cargo flights in and out of Hong Kong. The 13 additional frequencies allow FedEx Express to enhance service in Asia Pacific and Europe. FedEx Express provides customers with better intra-Asia connectivity as a result of adding six flights to Subic Bay linking customers to the FedEx AsiaOne® network and the rest of the world.
About FedEx
With annual revenues of $23 billion, FedEx Corp. is the premier global provider of transportation, e-commerce and supply chain management services. The company offers integrated business solutions through a network of subsidiaries operating independently, including: FedEx Express, the world's largest express transportation company; FedEx Ground, North America's second largest provider of small-package ground delivery service; FedEx Freight, the largest U.S. provider of regional less-than-truckload freight services; FedEx Custom Critical, North America's largest provider of expedited time-critical shipments; and FedEx Trade Networks, North America's largest customs broker and a provider of international freight forwarding and trade facilitation services. FedEx ranked highest in the J.D. Power and Associates 2002 Small Package Delivery Service Business Customer Satisfaction Study(SM) in the categories of air, ground and international delivery services.
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