American delivery giant Federal Express (FedEx) closed its Asia Pacific hub in the Philippines located in the Subic Bay Freeport with the last flight leaving for Taiwan. The company announced two years ago that it will be shutting down its Asian hub at the Subic Bay Freeport to transfer to Guangzhou in southern China.
The transfer of its logistics hub is inevitable since the market in China is bigger than the entire market of Southeast Asia. China also gave FedEx rights to handle its domestic cargo. FedEx is expected to gradually trim down operations and move most operations to China by May.
Subic has been the hub of FedEx’s Asia-Pacific operations since 1995, making it one of the pioneer business locators in the former US Naval Base facility. The hub earned about P150 million ($3.2 million) from landing fees and warehousing in 2008.
According to On the On the Edge the company, however, is not leaving the Philippines completely. The China’s Baiyun International Airport in Guangzhou would be the main hub of FedEx in the Asia-Pacific region. The new FedEx Asia-Pacific hub will be the largest facility of its kind outside of the US and represents a $150-million capital investment.
FedEx has transferred all its ground equipment from Subic to Clark. Under the agreement, FedEx plans to fly twice daily to and from Clark, except on Saturdays. Destinations are China and Taiwan.
FedEx has yet to issue an official statement on its Clark project. But this is minor stuff. China’s Baiyun International Airport in Guangzhou will be the main hub of FedEx in the Asia-Pacific region.
Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority Administrator Armand Arreza said the government stands to lose P150 million annually from the pullout of the FedEx hub in Subic.
FedEx on December 17 announced the successful completion of its China hub and the start of its operations there on February 6.
In a statement, it said that the new FedEx Asia-Pacific hub will be the largest facility of its kind outside of the US and represents a $150-million capital investment.
It said, ‘The facility will be the center point of FedEx Asia Pacific operations for the next 30 years.’