More and faster connections, more capacity, flexibility and time savings are the benefits available to European customers of Lufthansa Cargo and ANA Cargo as of 3 August, according to the duo.

Both airlines are expanding their joint venture for freight consignments to routes from Europe to Japan. This means that European customers also have access to the shared network of the two airlines made up of over 90 weekly direct flights between Europe and Japan. First customers in Germany, France, UK and Austria will participate in the partnership. All other European countries will follow step by step.

Lufthansa Cargo and ANA Cargo flights currently connect Frankfurt, Munich, Düsseldorf, London Heathrow, Paris Charles-de-Gaulle and Vienna with Tokyo Narita, Tokyo Haneda, Nagoya and Osaka.

Lufthansa Cargo and ANA Cargo started the first freight joint venture of its kind last December and initially focussed on flights from Japan to Europe. Both partners are offering their flights in a shared network on the cooperation routes.

Freight is also handled at numerous stations in shared warehouses both in Japan and Europe. “Our customers save valuable time thanks to the largenumbers of additional direct connections and rapid transit times. Demand has been consistently high since the partnership began”, reports Peter Gerber, chairman and CEO of Lufthansa Cargo.

“By the end of April, more than 800 additional consignments had been carried with a total volume of around 940 tonnes. The cooperation has paid off even within the first few months”, explains Akira Okada, CEO of ANA Cargo.

“Starting to send consignments from Europe to Japan is an important milestone to provide an attractive service to an extended circle of customers.”