FedEx Express has opened a brand new air gateway in Adelaide to support surging airfreight demand out of South Australia.
The brand new facility is a component of a planned logistics hub on the east side of Adelaide Airport and features enhanced sorting and storage capabilities.
The FedEx Adelaide South Australian gateway spans roughly 689,000 square feet, greater than double the scale of the previous facilities. It is supplied with 1,427 feet of conveyor belts and a complicated automated sortation system that may sort as much as 10,000 packages per hour, 4 times the previous sorting capability, in response to a May 18 news release.
FedEx (NYSE: FDX) said the gateway sort center enables one-day delivery service to be prolonged to homes and businesses in 130 additional postal codes across South Australia.
Air cargo volume in Adelaide is projected to double to 161,000 tons between 2020 and 2039, in response to the airport’s 2019 master plan.
FedEx currently operates 25 weekly cargo flights out and in of Adelaide Airport carrying packages and heavy freight for importers and exporters of all sizes.
“This gateway is now the biggest single express freight sorting facility in South Australia and the primary to answer major freight upgrades on the Adelaide Airport. The improved capabilities of the brand new facility will profit local businesses seeking to tap into the international marketplace and support the growing demand for e-commerce within the South Australia region,” said Peter Langley, vp, FedEx Express Australasia.
FedEx Express has cut international flight activity, including within the Asia-Pacific region by 10% in recent months and undertaken other cost-cutting measures as a result of a protracted downturn in shipping, however the Adelaide facility was in progress well before those changes.
The brand new gateway incorporates features to attenuate the environmental impact, including large skylights and LED lighting, electric vehicle charging, and rainwater harvesting.
Most of Adelaide Airport’s airfreight is carried within the cargo holds of passenger aircraft. International inbound air cargo is projected to grow at a compound annual rate of 4.8% to six.8%, with exports growing 3.6% to five%, in response to the master plan.
The highest airfreight partners for Adelaide are Southeast Asia, Northeast Asia and the Middle East.
The planned logistics park is designed to consolidate existing on-airport freight operations with adjoining off-airport industrial, warehouse and distribution operations.
Guangzhou trade facilitation
In related news, FedEx Express said it had signed a memorandum of understanding with the town government of Guangzhou to cooperate on customs clearance, cross-border e-commerce and the establishment of a FedEx operations center to reinforce international trade.
The Chinese city has been keen in recent times to facilitate trade with global markets.
FedEx’s Asia-Pacific air hub is positioned at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport and handles greater than 210 flights per week. FedEx plans to ascertain a South China operations center on the hub to support local pickup and delivery.
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