DHL to Open European Hub in Leipzig

Germany's mail service provider Deutsche Post said Tuesday it would make the eastern city of Leipzig the European center of its DHL international courier service. "As no political consensus on an extension could be achieved in Belgium, it is intended to maintain Brussels as a regional hub from 2008 onwards," the statement said. "Until then, DHL plans to keep activities running at the current scale at Brussels Airport." The German group said it plans to invest about €300 million ($390 million) in Leipzig and to employ about 3,500 staff there by 2012. It said operations in the eastern German city could start early in 2008. "This is a location that would pave the way for the necessary growth of DHL in the future and provides the group with long-term planning security," said Klaus Zumwinkel, chairman of the board of Deutsche Post. Plans for a European center in Brussels broke down in mid-October on Belgian demands for tighter limits on the number of night flights out of Brussels airport. Negotiations between federal and regional governments at one stage even threatened to topple the government. (AFP)