FedEx France: We are delighted to announce this further enhancement to our operations

 On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of its Roissy-Charles de Gaulle (95) hub, FedEx today announces it’s finalizing a new €30 million building dedicated to the handling of heavyweight and freight (>68kg).

Fully operational in 2025, the investment is part of a continued optimisation of the FedEx network to respond to evolving market trends, including improved service quality for businesses shipping heavy shipments intra-Europe and intercontinentally.

This infrastructure, which already existed and will become a complex dedicated to heavy cargo operations, is in the process of being refurbished in accordance with a contractual commitment made in coordination with Groupe ADP (Aéroports de Paris). With a total area of 22,200 m2, the building centralizes the processing of heavy goods in one dedicated site. It will feature new state-of-the-art equipment, including scanners and mobile weight measurement systems, and its implementation will generate energy use savings through LED lighting.

 “We are delighted to announce this further enhancement to our operations with the addition of a dedicated freight building to our historic Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle site on the occasion of its 25th anniversary,” said Julien Ducoup, Vice President (Hub Operations), FedEx France. “It will strengthen our sorting capabilities as we see significant opportunities in the deferred parcel and freight markets. As we celebrate these 25 years, we are proud to continue making a positive contribution to the dynamism of the regional economy: today, for every job created by FedEx, four other jobs are generated in the Île-de-France area1. Our hub has played a critical role at some key historical moments, including the first vaccine deliveries during the Covid-19 crisis. We remain committed to our customers and businesses across France and Europe and are resolutely focused to continue to innovate to anticipate the evolutions of the marketplace”, he added.

The Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle site is the main FedEx European hub and the second largest site in the world, after the company’s hub in Memphis, Tennessee. It brings together the majority of the 5,500 FedEx team members in the Paris region – 4,000 in total – and today can process up to  68,000 parcels and documents per hour.  The site is modernising in line with goal FedEx has set to achieve carbon neutral operations by 2040, through the electrification of the on-site fleet of ground vehicles, investments in more than 500 m2 of solar panels. It is connected to the FedEx international road hub in Marly-la-Ville, which connects France to the rest of the European road network.

25 years of presence at Roissy, 600 million in investment

Since the creation of the FedEx site at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle in 1999, the group has invested more than 600 million euros in the site’s installations in 25 years, with a total surface area of 72,000 m².

FedEx has an ambitious and inclusive hiring and retention policy. In 2022, for example, 1,200 new team members were hired, through innovative recruitment methods prioritising behavioral skills over other criteria. Internal promotion plays an important role, with an average service length of 18 years at the hub. As a testament to the positive economic impact of the hub, FedEx was awarded the “Talent and Training of the Future” award by Business France last year. Finally, in the Île-de-France region, the company’s activities generate approximately 22,000 direct or indirect jobs2.

Peak season drives exporting businesses in France

FedEx also generates €1.8b for the Paris region each year (€141 per inhabitant), as highlighted by a study conducted in 20233, supporting countless businesses in the region. For many of them, the end-of-the-year holidays activity is a critical time. The so-called ‘golden quarter’ carries 7% more volume than the average for the three other quarters4. In 2023, approximately 30% of the total volume of orders was delivered over this period.

According to new research carried out on the European level5, nearly 500 million parcels transported at the end of the year will be for export. The French market is an integral part of this economic trend: according to the same data, the country will experience the third highest level of deliveries over this period in Europe, with 524 million orders, just behind the United Kingdom (1.3 billion) and Germany (1.1 billion), representing a volume of 4.82% compared to 2023.

International air-network

To absorb these dynamic changes in the market, with volume fluctuations across the year conditioned by multiple external dynamics, FedEx has implemented a new strategic approach to its air network model, allowing a more differentiated management of parcel and freight flows, and priority and deferred services, optimizing the use of the network globally. The new air-network operating model sees three sections in which the shipments are diverted, depending on their volume and the priority chosen by our customers, responding also to an increased demand of deferred services. Three colored sections describe the operating system:

1. The purple section is the highest priority shipments, routed only by the FedEx-owned fleet and sorted at critical times.

2. The orange section still uses FedEx aircraft, but goods are sorted outside of priority windows, making it primarily suitable for cargo shipments.

3. The white section builds on FedEx‘s global network of airline partners, adding flexibility and more point-to-point connections for deferred parcels and e-commerce shipments.

The CDG hub plays a critical role in this model, as it provides the necessary connectivity to move the right product to the right network, with greater efficiency and reliability for businesses that need more flexibility in France, Europe, and around the world.