DHL Express opens second Seattle facility to meet demand

DHL Express has opened a new 26,000-square-foot facility at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) to accommodate growing demand for parcel delivery in the area. The US$4-million-dollar investment of an existing airport structure can now process more than 1,000 pieces per hour, complementing a second 42,000-square-foot DHL service center located just north of the region’s other airport, Boeing Field (BFI).

Months earlier, in May, DHL Express stopped its BFI flights when the Port of Seattle found room for the company to expand to the south at SEA, a larger airport with a rapidly expanding cargo capacity. In the interim months, DHL unloaded cargo on the ramp at SEA and sent it north to its BFI facility, just south of downtown Seattle. With the SEA facility now up and running, the company will split routes between the two facilities.

“Our new facility near [SeaTac] provides DHL with growth opportunities as we continue to expand our footprint in the region,” stated John Cornish, general manager for DHL Express U.S. “Seattle is home to some of the largest and most successful companies in the world, as well as many growing tech firms,” providing ample opportunities to handle future imports and exports. DHL explained that its expansion at SEA was driven by local businesses trading internationally, the growth of e-commerce shipping, as well as the high number technology/software companies and retailers based in Washington State.

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