BRUSSELS – Courier company DHL, which has fallen out of love with Belgium, will set up its European hub in the east German city of Leipzig, it was confirmed on Tuesday.

Deutsche Post, the semi-public company that controls DHL, issued a statement on Tuesday afternoon confirming widely leaked rumours that the courier firm had chosen Leipzig as the main hub for its European operations.

The Leipzig base will be the location for parcels to be sorted centrally before being redirected to the rest of Europe.

DHL intends to invest several hundred million euros in the east German site and expects to several thousand jobs, Deutsche Post added.

The move means DHL will scale down considerably its operations at Brussels’ Zaventem airport, with the loss of up to 1,700 out of 3,700 jobs.

Originally, the firm’s European hub was earmarked for Zaventem, but DHL changed its plans in October when it failed to win agreement from the federal and regional governments for the expansion.

The express parcel company wanted to be able to run more night flights, using planes that the authorities felt were too noisy for residents living below the flight paths.

Unlike Zaventem, Leipzig airport runs 24 hours a day.

[Copyright Expatica 2004]

Subject: Belgian news