DHL Express and Singapore Airlines have renewed their crew and maintenance agreement covering five Boeing 777 freighters based at Singapore Changi Airport, extending a cargo partnership that supports express and e-commerce traffic between Asia and the United States.Under the renewed arrangement, Singapore Airlines pilots will continue to operate the five aircraft for DHL Express, while the carrier’s engineers will oversee their maintenance. The freighters serve DHL’s South Asia Hub in Singapore and connect it with key destinations in the United States, providing dedicated long-haul capacity for time-sensitive shipments.
The companies announced the renewal on Thursday without disclosing the duration or financial terms of the new agreement. Their original arrangement, signed in March 2022, was set for more than four years and included an option to extend the partnership.
Travis Cobb, DHL Express executive vice-president for network operations and aviation, said the renewal reflected the company’s commitment to maintaining the air capacity needed to support global trade. He said the five aircraft had become an integral part of DHL’s intercontinental network, helping move time-definite shipments with speed and reliability.
Lee Lik Hsin, chief commercial officer at Singapore Airlines, said the partnership had supported express air freight flows between the Asia-Pacific region and key global markets through Singapore since 2022. He said the arrangement combines the airline’s operating expertise with DHL Express’s logistics network and supports Singapore’s role as an air freight hub, particularly for e-commerce.
The five Boeing 777 freighters entered service progressively from 2022 and are painted in a dual DHL-Singapore Airlines livery. Each aircraft can carry up to 102 tonnes of cargo. Boeing’s 777 freighter is designed for long-range operations and is one of the largest twin-engine cargo aircraft in commercial service.
The partnership gives DHL dedicated capacity from Singapore while allowing Singapore Airlines to provide flight crews and engineering support without owning the aircraft. When the original agreement was announced, DHL said the structure would give it greater flexibility to add routes and optimise aircraft use as demand changed.
Changi Airport Group says the five aircraft provide about 1,224 tonnes of weekly trans-Pacific freight capacity through Singapore. The DHL operation is part of a wider express-cargo network at Changi, where the logistics group runs its South Asia Hub serving Southeast Asia and Australasia.
DHL upgraded the hub’s automated parcel sorting system in 2024, raising handling capacity by 35 per cent to more than 14,000 shipments an hour and over 630 tonnes of cargo a day, according to Changi Airport Group. The airport also records more than 120 weekly DHL flights operated through joint-venture and commercial airline partners.
The freighter operation has also featured in DHL’s efforts to reduce emissions from air transport. From July 2025 to June 2026, Neste supplied sustainable aviation fuel produced in Singapore for DHL Express flights operated by the five 777 freighters. DHL said the fuel was expected to account for about 35 to 40 per cent of their overall fuel use during the contract period.
At the launch of the first aircraft in August 2022, DHL said the 777 freighter offered lower carbon emissions than the Boeing 747-400s it was replacing on comparable operations. The first aircraft initially operated a Singapore-South Korea-United States route three times a week.
The original programme began with the first 777 freighter arriving at Changi in August 2022, followed by the remaining aircraft in stages. DHL said at the time that the fleet would operate routes from Singapore to the United States through points in North Asia. The aircraft were deployed to strengthen links between DHL’s Asia-Pacific network and its Americas operations at a time when cross-border e-commerce and express freight demand were expanding.
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