Marking the 25th anniversary of its Roissy-Charles de Gaulle (95) hub, FedEx has announced that it is investing €30m (US$31m) in the renovation of an existing building to transform it into a dedicated heavyweight- and freight-handling facility.
Expected to be fully operational in 2025, the investment is part of a continued optimization of the FedEx network in response to evolving market trends, and includes improved service quality for businesses shipping heavy shipments intra-Europe and the provision of intercontinental services.
State-of-the-art building
This infrastructure, which already exists, will be transformed into a complex dedicated to heavy cargo operations. It is currently being refurbished in accordance with a contractual commitment made in coordination with Groupe ADP (Aéroports de Paris).
Covering 22,200m2, the building centralizes the processing of heavy goods in one dedicated site and will feature scanners and mobile weight measurement systems, with LED lighting contributing to energy savings.
“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 of 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 on continuing to innovate to anticipate the evolutions of the marketplace.”
The Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle site is the main FedEx European hub and its second largest site in the world, after the hub in Memphis, Tennessee. It has 4,000 employees – the majority of the 5,500 FedEx team members in the Paris region – and can process up to 68,000 parcels and documents per hour.
The site is being modernized in line with FedEx’s goal of achieving carbon-neutral operations by 2040, through the electrification of the on-site fleet of ground vehicles and investments in more than 500m2 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.
€600m over 25 years
Since the creation of the FedEx site at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle in 1999, the group has invested more than €600m (US$630m) in the site’s facilities.
FedEx has an ambitious and inclusive hiring and retention policy. In 2022, for example, 1,200 new team members were hired, through recruitment methods prioritizing behavioral skills over other criteria. Internal promotion plays an important role, with an average service length of 18 years at the hub. In the Île-de-France region, the company’s activities generate approximately 22,000 direct or indirect jobs.
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.
Peak season drives exporting businesses in France
FedEx generates €1.8bn (US$1.9bn) for the Paris region each year – €141 (US$148) per inhabitant – as highlighted by a study conducted in 2023. The end-of-the-year holiday period sees 7% more volume than is the average for the three other quarters of the year. In 2023, approximately 30% of the total volume of orders was delivered over this peak period.
According to new research commissioned by FedEx and conducted by Effigy Consulting, nearly 500 million of the parcels transported in Europe during this peak season will be for export. According to the same survey, France will experience the third highest level of deliveries over this period in Europe, with 524 million orders, just behind the UK (1.3 billion) and Germany (1.1 billion).
International air-network
To address these changes in the market, FedEx has implemented a new strategic approach to its air-network model, enabling a differentiated management of parcel and freight flows, and priority and deferred services, optimizing the use of the global network.
The new air-network operating model introduces three sections in which the shipments are diverted, depending on their volume and the priority chosen by customers, and in response to an increased demand for deferred services. Three colored sections describe priority: purple is the highest priority shipments, routed only by the FedEx-owned fleet and sorted at critical times; orange still uses FedEx aircraft, but goods are sorted outside of priority windows, making it suitable for cargo shipments; and white builds on FedEx’s network of airline partners, adding flexibility and more point-to-point connections for deferred parcels and e-commerce shipments.