Lufthansa Cargo (LCAG) could transfer part of its fleet to Leipzig to operate for its topcustomer, DHL, senior managers said. The German cargo carrier has also unveiled a new medium-term
strategy.Up to six of LCAG’s 19 MD-11 freighters currently fly from Cologne, Brussels and East Midlandsto destinations in North America and Asia under a five-year joint venture with DHL Express thatstarted in spring 2004. This joint venture was proving a success and generating good yields forLCAG with a high proportion of express shipments, LCAG board member Andreas Otto told journalistsin Frankfurt.
LCAG could station these long-haul freighters in Leipzig from 2009 onwards if DHL, which willtransfer its European air hub there from Brussels, decided to operate long-haul flights from theGerman airport and extended its contract with LCAG, added LCAG spokesman Nils Haupt. Should theplanned absolute night flight ban in Frankfurt go ahead, then Leipzig was an alternative for thecarrier’s other night flights, he said. LCAG currently operates 6-7 night flights from Frankfurt,which represent about a third of its total daily flights. The airline is lobbying hard in favour ofa partial rather than full night ban at the airport.
Otto added that DHL Express and DHL Danzas Air & Ocean (DDAO) were not currently combiningtheir volumes on LCAG flights to any great extent. While DHL Express focused on point-to-pointtraffic, DDAO moved its freight through large hubs such as Frankfurt, he noted.
Asked about LCAG’s business relationship with UPS following its acquisition of air freightforwarder Menlo, Otto described the US parcels giant as “a customer, not a competitor”. UPS volumeson Lufthansa freighters were growing fast, and the integrator was now among the airline’s top tencustomers, he said.
Outlining Lufthansa Cargo’s new medium-term strategy, Otto said the cargo airline now sawfreight forwarders as its target customer group and was aiming for long-term, regular business withthem. About 30 per cent of its volumes were secured through long-term contracts such as with DHL,Schenker and Kuehne & Nagel, and a further 50 per cent through six-month or one-year contracts.LCAG had increased its German market share slightly to above 27 per cent this year, while itsEuropean market share was about 13 per cent, Otto said.
Jade Cargo, the new Chinese-owned and Lufthansa-managed cargo airline based in Shenzhen, was nowdue to launch flights in June 2006, initially serving Asian and European destinations and laterNorth American airports, Otto said. Although the flight schedule was not yet definite, routes suchas China-Japan were particularly interesting, he noted.
Air cargo flows from Asia to Europe are forecast to continue growing fast next year. Over thefirst nine months of this year, air exports from Hong Kong grew by 13 per cent and from Shanghai by28 per cent. But there is a considerable imbalance in trade flows, Otto noted.
