EXPRESS transportation company FedEx Express said it recently launched two additional flights connecting businesses in Asia-Pacific countries, including the Philippines, to Europe and America, and made its fleet in Asia 100% wide-body.
“These new flights double the current capacity for Philippine shipments. This is particularly beneficial for Filipino small and medium-sized enterprises that aim to export during the coming peak season,” FedEx Express told BusinessWorld on Friday.
“Overall, this means enhanced connectivity, expanded capacity, more flexibility and greater reach for Asia-Pacific businesses, including businesses and exporters in the Philippines across trans-Pacific, intra-Asia, Europe and North America markets,” it said in an e-mail.
FedEx Express, a subsidiary of FedEx Corp., has a new 17,000-square-meter facility in Clark, Pampanga, which is seen to boost support for businesses and e-commerce in the country.
The two new flights are the latest in the company’s network expansion as economies in the region continue to recover.
“Combined with the four new intercontinental flights launched in July, FedEx has added 62 flights in and out of Asia-Pacific per week with additional capacity to carry almost 2,700 tons (2,690,000 kilograms),” FedEx Express said.
These additions bring its weekly flights from Asia-Pacific to the US and Europe to over 225.
The company also replaced its Boeing 757 narrow body freighters with Boeing 767 wide-body freighters.
“This has almost doubled the cargo capacity to Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, and the Philippines,” FedEx Express said.
The wider freighters offer a maximum gross payload capacity of nearly 60,000 kilograms.
As for the newly opened Clark Gateway facility, FedEx Express said: “Customers in Northern Luzon and Cebu will enjoy an extended cutoff time.”
“An extended cutoff time allows SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) more flexibility and ensures that their shipment departs on time. Meanwhile, deliveries in Northern Luzon will be earlier by two hours on average,” it noted.
The company also said the facility has sufficient space and capacity to process bulk shipments and is large enough to meet its customers’ retail freight needs, noting that its upgraded sorting system can handle 9,000 documents and parcels per hour. — Arjay L. Balinbin
