Night operations are imperative for DHL Aviation to support companies dependent on time-critical logistic capabilities. Future policy decisions must therefore be informed by a comprehensive evidence base, and not through treating these night operations as an isolated airport issue. That is the overall conclusion of a recent study, commissioned by DHL and published by the University of Antwerp.
The analysis ‘DHL Brussels: an economic cluster and a strategic connectivity asset for Belgium’, was carried out by transport economists, Prof. Dr. Roel Gevaers and Dr. Stijn Michielsen. It is based on structured surveys and ten validated in-depth customer interviews, covering approximately 37% of DHL Belgium’s outbound export volume.
The study comes amid a drawn-out process to secure a new operating permit for Brussels Airport. In MAR25, the Flemish government approved a new permit, but the Council for Permit Disputes annulled it two months later. The government now has until mid-2029 to work on a new permit.
The research examined the hub’s role through three complementary impact layers: direct economic effects; indirect and induces effects, and so-called ‘ecosystem’ effects (the hub enabling time-critical business models).
Dual role
The researchers investigated DHL’s hub at Brussels Airport, in its dual role. On the one hand, it is a major economic activity in its own right – generating employment and added value at and beyond the airport.
On the other hand, its late cut-offs and overnight network provide a critical logistics capability to companies operating in some of Belgium’s most internationally oriented and time-sensitive sectors.
Both aspects are demonstrated in the figures. In 2025, the DHL Brussels hub directly supported 1,876 FTE’s, 2,083 employees, and EUR 315.5 million added value (up from EUR 246.2 million in 2023).
Time-critical as part of the business model
On top of this, around 3,704 FTE’s and EUR 458 million of added value are generated outside the direct DHL hub perimeter. This means that approximately two-thirds of DHL Brussels’s total employment footprint occurs outside the hub itself.
The latter is due to the fact that the hub’s late cut-offs and overnight connectivity create an operating capability around which a number of Belgian companies have organized part of their activities. In simpler terms: the hub’s time-critical set-up is an integral part of the business model of these companies.
Evaluating the economic impact
“An earlier DHL network close can move customer preparation, warehouse processing, laboratory work and order cut-offs upstream by several hours. In several validated cases, the impact can amount to two or three hours of lost preparation time,” the researchers say in their Executive Summary.
The researchers point out that the evidence shows that the economic value of the hub does not simply lie in whether a shipment can eventually reach its destination, but in when it can enter the network and with what level of reliability.
Dr Gevaers says that DHL commissioned the study to get an overall picture of its operations against the background of the [noise] issue at stake. “Companies find it handy to know their impact within an economic fabric. In this case, it concerns the importance of their time-critical business.”
Will 2008 be repeated?
The containment of the number of night slots made DP decide to demote the role of Brussels Airport from an intercontinental to a regional hub in 2008, moving the intercontinental operation to Leipzig. Dr Gevaers cannot predict if a similar scenario looms, he says.
“The exact plans of DHL within the larger context is up to them. We provided an eco-system effect linked with the situation if night operations would no longer be possible. In some countries, night operations are being scrutinized.”
