The company was primarily interested in offshore and intercontinental express, but the success of FedEx prompted DHL to begin expanding domestically (within the United States) in 1983. In 1998, Deutsche Post began acquiring shares in DHL. The company acquired a controlling stake in 2001 and acquired all outstanding shares in December 2002. [9] The company subsequently merged DHL into its Express division, while expanding the use of the DHL brand to other divisions, business units, and subsidiaries of Deutsche Post. Today, DHL Express shares its DHL brand with business units such as DHL Global Forwarding and DHL Supply Chain. [10] It gained a foothold in the United States with the acquisition of Airborne Express in 2003.

DHL Express's global headquarters are located at Deutsche Post's headquarters in Bonn. Its North American headquarters are located in Guadalajara, Mexico, and Plantation, Florida, while its Asia-Pacific and Emerging Markets headquarters are located in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and mainland China. Its European hub is located in Leipzig, Germany. The majority of DHL Express's operations are incorporated under the name DHL International GmbH.

Major competitors include FedEx, UPS, and national postal operators such as the United States Postal Service (USPS) and Royal Mail. However, DHL has a small partnership with the USPS that allows DHL to deliver small packages to recipients via the USPS network (called DHL Global Mail, now DHL eCommerce). It is also the only provider of USPS mail to and from Iraq and Afghanistan.

DHL offers services worldwide, including shipping to countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan, and Myanmar. As DHL is a German company, it is not subject to US embargoes or sanctions and can deliver to Cuba[36] and North Korea. [37][38] However, due to North Korea's unstable relations with the West, there are strict regulations regarding shipping to North Korea. [37]

In 2002, Bashkir Airlines Flight 2937 (a Tupolev Tu-154 passenger aircraft) collided with DHL Flight 611 (a Boeing 757-200 cargo aircraft) at 35,000 feet (11,000 m) over Überlingen, Germany. All 69 passengers on the Bashkir flight (mostly Russian students) and the two DHL pilots were killed. [64][65]

On 22 November 2003, a DHL was shot down in Baghdad when Iraqi insurgents fired an SA-7 "Grail" surface-to-air missile at a European Air Transport Airbus A300 operated on behalf of DHL. The aircraft was taking off from Baghdad Airport when the missile struck the left wing, disabling all three hydraulic systems and catching fire in the wing. The aircraft began to oscillate dangerously vertically, but the crew managed to land safely at the airport, although they were only able to control the aircraft by adjusting engine thrust. [66]

In October 2008, two senior executives of DHL Express Middle East, David Giles and Jason Bressler, were assassinated in Kabul by an Afghan employee; they were awarded military honors by the US military, the first such honors awarded to them in Afghanistan. [67]

On 18 March 2010, a DHL Antonov An-26 aircraft made an emergency landing on the frozen Lake Ölemiste near Lennart Meri Airport in Tallinn. Initial reports indicated problems with the landing gear and one of the engines. The flight was operated by Exin on behalf of DHL. The aircraft involved was SP-FDO and had taken off from Helsinki Airport. One of the six crew members was injured. [68][69]

On 13 February 2021, the cargo door of DHL Flight 126, a Boeing 757-200 freighter aircraft G-DHKZ, opened at approximately 5,300 feet (1,600 m) after takeoff from Leipzig/Halle Airport. Parts of the fuselage fell to the ground at a power plant approximately 10 nautical miles (12 mi; 19 km) from the airport, but no cargo was lost and the crew was able to return to Leipzig/Halle without injuries. The incident is under investigation. [70]

On 7 April 2022, Guatemala DHL Flight 7216, a Boeing 757-27A (PCF), crashed in San José, Costa Rica, while attempting an emergency landing due to a hydraulic failure. Both crew members survived without injuries. [71]

On November 25, 2024, Swiftair Flight 5960, a Boeing 737-476F, crashed into a house near Vilnius Airport in Vilnius, Lithuania. Of the four people on board, one died and two were injured. [72][73]