UPS Opens $80 Million Clark Air Hub as Philippine Cargo Capacity Rises

UPS has opened an $80 million air hub at Clark International Airport, north of Manila, increasing its average daily handling capacity from about 5,000 packages to 46,000, according to the company figures reported by BusinessWorld and The Manila Times.

The 30,000-square-metre facility in Pampanga replaces a Clark hub that UPS opened in 2002. It is 15 times larger than its predecessor and can process up to 15,000 packages an hour at peak capacity, the two publications reported. An automated system within the hub can sort up to 9,000 small packages an hour.

UPS says it operates 170 weekly flight segments into and out of Clark and that the new facility supports service across more than 1,100 global trade lanes, according to BusinessWorld and GMA News. The routes connect the Philippines with markets in Asia-Pacific, Europe and the United States. UPS told BusinessWorld that it offers next-day delivery to major Asian markets and transit times as short as two business days to destinations outside the region; those are company service claims, rather than guarantees for every shipment.

At the inauguration, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. connected the investment to the cost of transporting goods within the Philippines, an archipelago where domestic distribution is a consideration for businesses. “Yet, our logistics sector continues to face challenges, particularly the high cost of moving goods across our archipelago,” he said, according to BusinessWorld. Marcos said freight and distribution expenses can account for as much as 27% of sales.

“Yet, our logistics sector continues to face challenges, particularly the high cost of moving goods across our archipelago.”Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Philippine president

According to UPS figures cited by BusinessWorld and GMA News, the new hub has created nearly 600 jobs. Marcos said it would bring employment and business opportunities outside Metro Manila, BusinessWorld reported.

For healthcare shipments, the UPS facility has three temperature-controlled units operating across a range from minus 20°C to 25°C, The Manila Times and BusinessWorld reported. The Manila Times also reported dedicated re-icing capability and a tracking system intended to give priority handling and greater visibility to critical shipments. UPS is using electric ground-support equipment for ramp operations, according to The Manila Times and the freight publication PortCalls.

UPS Asia-Pacific operations and strategy president Daryl Tay told The Manila Times that customers seeking more resilient supply chains are reconsidering how they configure them. Separately, UPS executives described the Clark project to BusinessWorld as part of investments in facilities elsewhere in the region, including Taiwan, Hong Kong and South Korea.