Private company

DHL Air UK

Logo: Presumably DHL, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons3

British cargo airline

DHL Air (UK) Limited is a British cargo airline based in Orbital Park, Hounslow, London. It is wholly owned by Deutsche Post and provides services on the group's DHL-branded parcel and express network in Europe. Its main base is East Midlands Airport.2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 20, 2026.

Overview

1982Founded1

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Boeing 767-3JHF, DHL (DHL Air) AN2220995
Photo: Oleg V. Belyakov - AirTeamImages, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons5

DHL Air (UK) Limited is a British cargo airline based in Orbital Park, Hounslow, London. It is wholly owned by Deutsche Post and provides services on the group's DHL-branded parcel and express network in Europe. Its main base is East Midlands Airport. It forms a part of the greater DHL Aviation division.2

Corporate structure

DHL Air UK is part of a group headed by DHL Group. 46 entities, 14 countries on record. Switch between the flow chart and the network, and select any entity to see its details.

Built from parent and subsidiary links from GLEIF, the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (CC0); subsidiaries, stakes and holdings from Wikidata (CC0). Each entity in the chart links to its source.

The story

The company was formed as Elan Air Freight on 11 October 1982 as a joint venture between Air Bridge Carriers and DHL International. It commenced operations in April 1983. Elan Air operated night freight charters using the Armstrong Whitworth Argosy and Handley Page Dart Herald from Southern Ireland and Netherlands. The first green/ doc and red/ wpx bags were customs cleared by Import Agent John Yardley in the Elan Airside Warehouse from 1988-1990. The airline then acquired a Merchantman freighter version of the Vickers Vanguard and later the airline's name changed to DHL Air on 16 May 1989.

DHL Air has held a United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority Type A air operator certificate since 30 November 2001 to transport passengers, cargo, and mail on aircraft with a capacity of 20 or more seats. After receiving the license, flight operations began in December 2001. The airline has 422 employees as of April 2022. Its main office is located at EMA Cargo West in the main DHL building at East Midlands Airport.

From Wikipedia’s article on DHL Air UK, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Products and brands

Current

As of August 2025, DHL Air UK operates the following aircraft:

Former

The airline formerly operated the following aircraft:

From Wikipedia’s article on DHL Air UK, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Subsidiaries and ownership

Parent company

Owners

From Wikidata.1

Timeline

  1. 1982Founded Founded1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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