TNT Express Adds Five New Routes to Middle East Road Network

Aug 15, 2005

Amsterdam, August 15th 2005 TNT Express - the world's leading business to business express delivery company - has announced plans to expand its Middle East Road Network with the addition of five new routes, all to be operational in 2006.

The move comes as TNT aggressively develops its Middle East Road Network (MERN), starting with its 'Day Definite' service, which guarantees customers the exact number of days to delivery.

"The road network is the backbone of TNT's regional strategy and we plan to launch routes linking the Gulf countries with the wider Middle East and Europe next year," said Steve Barrett, TNT's newly promoted MERN Operations Manager.

"TNT offers a day definite service because we have the knowledge and experience of all the preferred routes at specific times of the day and night. We also have excellent relationships with authorities at border points and a good understanding of import-export regulations throughout the region. Two examples of this are United Arab Emirates (UAE) to Kuwait in two working days and UAE to Jeddah in three working days. The service and cost conscious pricing is unrivalled," said Barrett.

The new routes will include additional Middle Eastern countries, giving customers unmatched access across the region. They will also benefit from MERN's customs clearance expertise and day definite transit times, and will feature full track and trace technology, door-to-door delivery, one price for imports and exports, 24/7 customer service, GPS tracking and cost effective prices on heavy weight consignments.

"MERN has delivered to an impressive 60% annual increase over the last three years. Such success clearly reflects the need for the expansion in response to market demand," added Barrett.

Currently TNT's MERN covers 10 destinations including Dubai, Jebel Ali, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Bahrain, Kuwait, Dhahran, Riyadh, Jeddah and Muscat. The expansion of MERN is part of TNT's ongoing commitment to exceed customer expectations in the transfer of goods and documents around the world, particularly in the expanding market of the Middle East.