Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific Airways and Germany’s Lufthansa Cargo have agreed to join forces in order to strengthen their air cargo operations between Hong Kong and Europe.
Simon Large, director for cargo at Cathay Pacific, and Peter Gerber, CEO and chairman of the executive board of Lufthansa Cargo, recently signed an agreement in Frankfurt, Germany, for an integrated bilateral cooperation.
“With respect to the cooperation routes between Hong Kong and Europe, both airlines will in the future work closely together on network planning, as well as sales, IT and ground-handling. This will bring Hong Kong, the world’s busiest air cargo hub, closer to Europe, strengthening one of the world’s great trade lanes.”
“Our joint network will cover more than 140 direct flights per week between Hong Kong and 13 European destinations,” said Large. “Cathay Pacific’s large number of direct connections to multiple European destinations complements Lufthansa’s strength in Frankfurt, the most important European air freight hub, and in Europe through its dense feeder-network.”
With the tie-up, customers will acquire access to greater flexibility, with more flights, including a combination of feeder and direct flights, to choose from, Gerber said.
“In this way their cargo can reach its destination hours earlier,” he explained. “We will also have more options for shipments which have to be transported by freighter due to their size or properties.”
The cooperation will also focus on service enhancements. Customers will be able to access the entire joint network via the booking systems of both partners. Joint handling, initially at the Hong Kong and Frankfurt hubs, will also make things easier for customers since there will be just one point for export drop-off and import delivery.
The partners plan to transport the first shipments under the framework of the cooperation from early next year initially from Hong Kong to Europe. Shipment bookings from Europe to Hong Kong will follow in the course of the year.
The joint activities will be carried out in full compliance with all applicable laws, including the competition rules of the European Union and Hong Kong, said the two companies.
