Adelaide, 19 May 2023 – FedEx Express, a subsidiary ofFedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX), one of the world’s largest expresstransportation companies, announced the launch of its new FedExAdelaide South Australian gateway to support the surging airfreight demand out of South Australia. Adjacent to the AdelaideAirport, the new facility forms part of the planned freight andlogistics hub for Adelaide Airport East Precinct, and featuresenhanced sorting and storage capabilities, supported bystate-of-the-art technology. The new FedEx Adelaide SouthAustralian gateway spans approximately 64,000 square metres, morethan double the size of the previous facilities combined and isequipped with 435-metre conveyor belts and an advanced automatedsortation system that can sort up to 10,000 packages per hour, fourtimes the previous sorting capacity.
The new facility also offers more than 300 per cent increase inpackage sorting volume and enables selected one-day deliveryservices to be extended to homes and business in 130 additionalpostcodes across metropolitan and regional South Australia.Locations enjoying faster delivery times include the BarossaValley, Adelaide Hills, and Fleurieu Peninsula regions.
Air freight volume in Adelaide is expected to more than doubleover the next 20 years, rising from 58,500 tonnes annually to146,000 tonnes in 2039[1]. Between 2020 and 2050, it is anticipatedthat the volume of wider Australian air freight will increase byover 103%, rising from roughly 290 million tonne kilometres in 2020to roughly 589 million tonne kilometres in 2050.[2].
The new facility helps to support broader long-term economicbenefits for South Australia. Currently, with 25 weekly flightsinto and out of Adelaide Airport carrying FedEx Express cargo, thenew facility provides importers and exporters including small- andmedium-enterprises (SMEs) and heavy-weight shippers with greaterand more reliable access to other cities within Australia andbetween international markets.
“This gateway is now the largest single express freight sortingfacility in South Australia and the first to respond to majorfreight upgrades at the Adelaide Airport. The enhanced capabilitiesof the new facility will benefit local businesses looking to tapinto the international marketplace and supports the growing demandfor e-commerce in the South Australia region,” said Peter Langley,Vice President, FedEx Express Australasia. “We’re very proud tolaunch the new facility during the same year of our50th birthday. This is a testament of our commitment to lookat new and innovative ways to serve our customers more efficientlyand adopt practices to help reduce carbon emissions from ouroperations.”
In support of the FedEx Corp. goal of carbon neural globaloperations by 2040, the new gateway has incorporated multi-facetedfeatures from lighting to water recycling. The facility building isilluminated by a 4,500 square meter skylight to increase the amountof natural light and uses LED lighting to save more than 50%kW per year versus traditional lighting. It also collects andreuses rainwater on site. Equivalent to a 4-star environmentalAustralian rating, the facility is also equipped with EV chargingprovisions and scalability.
As SMEs and businesses evolve to meet the current economicclimate and navigate customer sentiment, FedEx is drivingefficiencies through significant investments like this gateway tohelp the company’s customers retain and gain market share byproviding the best possible last-mile experience for theircustomers.