DHL’s disaster management program, established in 2005 under the name GoHelp, celebrated its 20th birthday. Over the years, the rescue and support team engaged in 77 natural catastrophes to save lives or provide affected people with essential supplies, especially clean potable water. Within the two decades and in close partnership with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), 70,000 tons of life-saving aid was handled by the initiative. As the longest-standing private sector partner of the UN OCHA, GoHelp has earned a reputation for reliability, speed, and innovation in humanitarian logistics. In addition, DHL Global Forwarding announces the commissioning of a new cargo terminal at Frankfurt Airport.
The general public associates DHL’s brand primarily with express transport, whether by air, ocean, rail, or road. Only insiders are likely to be aware that the Deutsche Post logistics pillar also plays a leading role in humanitarian logistics. Since the pilot program was launched in December 2024, more than1,000 trained volunteers in four regional units worldwide have been qualified to be ready for deployment within 72 hours in case of urgency.The initiative arose in response to the increasing frequency and severity of humanitarian crises, highlighting the critical need for coordinated logistics solutions in emergency situations where every second counts.
Logistics coordination at airports is key
“Our work has shaped the way logistics is integrated into global emergency response efforts,” said Thomas Ogilvie, CHRO and Labor Director of DHL Group. “Our compass for the operations is our business purpose: connecting people, improving lives. We focus our offerings on our core competence and only do what we do best: organizing logistics services in every environment.” Ken Melville, VP Humanitarian Affairs and Sustainable Aviation added to this that in case of tsunamis, earthquakes, flooding or other natural catastrophes, disaster relief is flown in from all over the world. But these supplies need to be handled at the airport to which the relief supplies are flown and where they are ultimately distributed to where they’re needed most.
Here are just a few examples of many
The journey began with a pilot program in DEC2024, when DHL’s Disaster Response Team (DRT) facilitated the logistics of humanitarian aid at Colombo Airport in Sri Lanka following the Indian Ocean tsunami. Shortly after, on 08OCT2005, the team ensured swift and efficient transfer of international aid to the areas affected by a devastating earthquake in Pakistan. Also due to the aftermath of a devastating earthquake, missions followed in Haiti, where DRT experts managed the sorting and forwarding of relief supplies at the airport in Port-au-Prince and at alternative airports in the neighboring Dominican Republic. During the COVID-19 pandemic, DHL Group played a pivotal role as a logistics expert, delivering two billion vaccine doses to over 175 countries in 2021 and 2022. Since then, DHL reinforced the importance of logistics in public health responses.
Large GARD network
In the meantime, GoHelp has integrated 60 airports in 30 countries in its GARD network, the acronym stands for Get Airports Ready for Disaster. All GoHelp operations are actively managed at regional hubs located on 5 continents: Singapore, Panama, Dubai, Johannesburg, and Bonn. Which station is responsible for coordinating relief efforts depends on where a natural disaster has occurred.
“With the escalating effects of climate change, the demand for rapid, efficient, and effective disaster response is at an all-time high. Well-trained personnel are essential to the success of any humanitarian initiative,” Mayyada Ansari, Global Head of GoHelp, summarizes.
DHL GF gets new home in FRA
In addition to this, DHL Global Forwarding announced the commissioning of a new, state-of-the-art air freight terminal at Frankfurt Airport. The building, which can handle up to 300,000 tons of cargo annually, will consolidate the agent’s activities, which were previously spread across three locations around the airport.
“The start of full operations by DHL Global Forwarding is an important milestone in the further development of Frankfurt Airport as a leading air freight hub,” exclaimed Anke Giesen, Executive Vice President Retail and Real Estate at Fraport AG. “With the CargoHub master plan, Fraport plans to increase cargo volume by a good 50 percent to around three million tons of air freight per year by 2040. The new hall is an important project in our Fraport real estate development, which we have now completed on schedule.”
Freen energy contributes to power provision
The facility covers an area of 24,500 square meters, including 3,000 sqm of flexible office and lounge space. Road feeder service providers can use 54 gates to load or unload their shipments. In addition, there are 25 truck parking spaces and around 185 car parking spaces on the site. Twenty of these are equipped with electric charging stations. A large-scale PV system with a peak output of two megawatts is currently being installed on the roof of the facility. Once completed, the green electricity produced will be fed into the airport grid.
