DHL Parcel prepares to open first hub in Austria


One year after launching in the Austrian market, DHL Parcel prepares its first logistics centre in Graz, with an additional facility in Vienna under construction.

The former, a fully automated logistics centre, will begin operating this month before serving as the primary hub for southern and southeastern Austria in the DHL parcel network. In the Liesing district of the city of Vienna, the second logistics centre is currently under construction, offering 30,000 sq m of space. It will begin operations in 2017, and take over parcel delivery for greater metropolitan Vienna and the central districts.

“The way in which our business has performed has been extraordinarily positive,” said Günter Birnstingl, Managing Director of DHL Parcel Austria. “Within a year, we have been able to build up an infrastructure that allows us to successfully serve every postal code in Austria.”

“Thanks to some 1,900 parcel shops across Austria we can already provide customer-friendly parcel services – whether customers need to pick up or post their parcels,” said Birnstingl. “This number is expected to surpass 2,000 by the end of the year.”

The largest partner of the parcel shops is the supermarket chain Billa. Recently, both companies agreed on an expansion of their collaboration. By the end of the year, some 400 to 500 Billa stores will also be DHL parcel shops. DHL Parcel also plans to expand the number of its Packstations. The city of Vienna already has around 35 of the parcel systems, and another 15 are expected to be installed in other cities such as Graz and Linz by the end of the year.

By 2017, DHL Parcel plans to invest a three-digit million Euro amount in Austria. “Vienna and Graz will not remain the only two logistics centers in Austria,” said Birnstingl. “Given the highly dynamic e-commerce market in our country and the associated boom in volumes, we plan to further expand both our service and our infrastructure.”

Source: DP DHL Group