Commencing on 16th June 2003, TNT Express will now be flying a company-owned BAe146 aircraft direct between its European Air Express Hub in Liége, Belgium, to Bucharest in Rumania.
From 30th June the same aircraft will also operate between Bucharest and Prague in the Czech Republic. Prior to this upgrade of services, TNT Express serviced these routes using a combination of chartered aircraft and commercial linehaul connections.
With the launch of the new service, departure times for exports will be extended by 2 hours for Bucharest and 55 minutes for Prague whilst arrival times for imports will be 1 hour earlier for Bucharest and 90 minutes earlier for the Czech capital. TNT Express customers in Bucharest and Timisoara will also benefit from later pick-up and earlier delivery times as these cities will be linked to the new route through new co-load operations.
Christian Drenthen, Managing Director of the European Air & Road Network commented, “This new air linehaul arrangement supplies the best services in the express industry, beating the competition in most cases by up to 90 minutes. The investment follows the successful implementation of the Eastern European strategy plan which was developed and launched in 2000 and since then has led to continued high double digit growth, both in terms of revenue and profits. At TNT Express we are constantly striving to reduce transit times in order to offer our customers the fastest and most reliable service. With the introduction of this new route, we are not only targeting an area of Europe that has become a vital focus for continued investment but also continuing to open up more of the European market to our worldwide customers.”
