German mail and logistics group Deutsche Post and Lufthansa Cargo have announced the creation of a new 50:50 joint venture cargo carrier focusing on transporting air freight and express shipments into and out of Asia.

The as yet to be named carrier is slated to begin operating in April 2009 and will be based at the new DHL hub in Leipzig-Halle. Its initial fl eet will comprise 11 new 777-200LR freighters that will be leased and are scheduled for delivery starting in February2009.

Pending granting of traffi c rights, the carrier hopes gradually to expand its route network. It is not known how many routes will be served initially, but the JV partners said the network they would like to operate includes: weekday service to Singapore, Bangkok, Dubai, Bombay, Shanghai Pudong, Hong Kong, Seoul Incheon, Nagoya, Almaty, East Midlands and Milan. Weekend fl ights include: Pudong, Astana, Singapore, Bangkok, Sharjah, Hong Kong, Chicago O’Hare and NewYork JFK.

The new airline, whose equity capital will amount to EURO 50 million, will be managed by Thomas Papke, formerly at Lufthansa Cargo, and Thomas Pusch, formerly at DHL. While Lufthansa Cargo and DHL Express will jointly use the freight capacity of the new carrier they will market their services independently. DHL Express’ aviation chief Charles Graham says that the new joint venture will enable the two sides to improve express freight transport between Europe and the growth markets inAsia.

“Our customers will profi t from more capacity, better transit times and higher quality all-round,” he says. Lufthansa Cargo and DHL Express have operated a network together between Europe, Asia and the US since March 2004, a large part of which is due later this year to start operating out of Leipzig/Halle airport, where DHL Express is moving its main European hub.