Deutsche Post announced that it ended its overnight airmail services for domestic letters within Germany, and in the interest of sustainability, letter mail on these routes will be transported exclusively via road in the future.
"Marking the end of an era, Deutsche Post has discontinued its overnight airmail network in Germany after 63 years in operation," it said in a statement.
In the early hours of March 28, Eurowings and Tui Fly's last overnight flights transported letters to and from northern and southern Germany on the routes Stuttgart-Berlin, Hanover-Munich and Hanover-Stuttgart.
Deutsche Post added that transporting letter mail overland will allow It to reduce transport-related CO2 emissions on these routes by more than 80%.
"We conclude the era of overnight letter airmail with mixed feelings," says Marc Hitschfeld, chief operations officer of DHL Group's Post & Parcel Germany division.
"In times of climate change, airmail for domestic letters within Germany can no longer be justified — also because there is no longer the same urgency associated with letter mail as in decades past. So, on the one hand, the end of domestic airmail is good news for the environment. On the other hand, the end of overnight airmail closes a chapter of postal history which many Deutsche Post employees have identified with for decades," he added.
The first partner in the overnight airmail network was Lufthansa, which serviced all routes at the time with the exception of the air corridor to Berlin controlled by the Western Allies (serviced by the American carrier PanAm until 1990).
Deutsche Post said over the years, additional airlines were added to service the network, with Lufthansa terminating its service in 2008. The Frankfurt (am Main) airport served as the network hub for decades but lost this role in 2005 due to the ban on night flights at Frankfurt.
As late as 1996, Deutsche Post was still transporting some 430 metric tons of letter mail with 26 partner airline aircraft to 45 destinations every night.
In the end, it was only 53 metric tons, with six aircraft servicing the routes Stuttgart-Berlin, Hanover-Munich and Hanover-Stuttgart (each in both directions) – amounting to some 1.5 million letters flown each night or roughly 270,000 items per aircraft on average.
"Political and social consensus in Germany today has largely determined that ensuring speedy delivery of most domestic letter mail by the following workday is no longer a core component of universal postal service. Instead, the focus is much more on the social-environmental aspects and impacts of the postal service," the announcement said.
Accordingly, it noted that the reforms to Germany's Postal Act (PostModG) — currently in deliberation in Germany's parliament and expected to take effect soon — stipulate longer transit times for letter mail, which has long been the norm in most EU countries.
"Nevertheless, Deutsche Post will continue to ensure fast letter mail transport between northern and southern Germany with the deployment of Sprinter vans, among other modes. This is also made possible by reduced letter mail volumes and sorting times," Deutsche Post said.
