DHL Express, the world’s leading international express service provider, has commenced the full-fledged operation of Incheon Gateway after it invested €131 million (KRW 175 billion) to expand the Gateway in 2019. The investment is DHL Express’s largest in South Korea to date, making Incheon Gateway the largest gateway in the Asia Pacific.
The expansion aims to address the increasing air cargo demand at the Gateway, as a result of growing overseas trade in South Korea and increase in international express import and export with Asia-Pacific countries, including Singapore, Japan, China, Australia, and Taiwan.
genericforgreece.comThe enhanced Incheon Gateway now boasts a gross floor area of 59,248 square metres – thrice the size of the previous Gateway at 19,946 square metres. The handling capacity is also boosted by over 3.5 times to reach 28,400 pieces per hour. The Gateway houses a 5.5 kilometre-long conveyor belt and 19 automated X-ray inspection machines to ensure shipment contents are safe and compliant. Moreover, Incheon Gateway is a pivotal logistics facility, connecting global DHL hubs and gateways through seven dedicated DHL aircraft and 40 aircraft from partner airlines. This can address the ever-growing transit shipment demand in the Northeast Asian region.
To process import and export shipments faster and more efficiently, the Incheon Gateway features a fully automated sorting and handling system. In particular, an automated document and small parcel sorter can efficiently process over 10,000 parcels an hour, significantly enhancing the handling speed and operations competency. As a result, more than 30 minutes of delivery time for imported goods is saved.
To minimise greenhouse gas emissions, the facility is partly powered by solar energy. A 1-megawatt solar power generator is installed – spanning the entire rooftop area (5,700 square metres) of the Gateway. The solar generator can produce energy that covers roughly 30% of the facility’s consumed energy, thus reducing around 650 tons of carbon emissions annually. This marks the first instance among cargo terminals within Incheon International Airport to use solar energy.
South Korea is the world’s sixth largest e-commerce market. The larger Incheon Gateway will also now better support Korean cross-border e-commerce companies to grow in overseas markets, said a release.