Considerable delivery speed improvements expected (160 words)

Published: 11/2/2000

DHL International and Lufthansa Cargo, which owns 25% of DHL, have announced the introduction of their first cooperation in Russia and the CIS, a daily cargo route Moscow-Cologne-Moscow.

The new route will allow DHL to significantly reduce delivery times, allowing 90% of deliveries to and from Moscow to be delivered the next day. Delivery times to 30 cities in Russia and the CIS via Moscow will also be reduced as a result of the new route.

DHL has had its own customs terminal and warehouse at Sheremetyevo Airport for seven years and has operated in Russia and the CIS since 1984 investing $50m in its in country infrastructure since that date, with $25m being invested in the last three years. It currently provided delivery service to 450 cities in Russia through a network of 120 offices giving it more than 51% of the courier service market in Russia according to Research Intrernational. DHL also claims to be the only one international express-delivery air service that offers its own Russian web server www.dhl.ru, where clients can place an order for transportation on-line and track their packages.

According to Lufthansa Cargo, clients have been looking for such a route for some time and the extra capacity will allow them to increase their bulky and heavy cargo business to Russia, where they service more than 100 cities.

Article ID: 2169