Rhenus Freight Logistics and Lufthansa Cargo have signed an agreement aimed at winning more air freight business from medium-sized European companies shipping to the US, Asia and Middle East. Rhenus, which has annual turnover of some €3.3 billion (US$4.5 billion), said it would introduce its European shipper customers to Lufthansa Cargo as part of the preferred partner deal. “Our customers obtain reliable and high-quality services for their air freight in return,” added … [Read more...] about EUROPE & CIS: Rhenus & Lufthansa team up to boost volumes

Further cuts in global freighter capacity are inevitable because of unsustainable loss-making among airlines, according to Europe’s biggest all-cargo carrier. Robert van de Weg, senior VP for sales and marketing at Cargolux, said demand was down by 20-25 per cent, but estimated that capacity had only been reduced by 10-12 per cent. “So there is quite a lot still to come out, “ he added, saying Cargolux had reduced its services by around 10 per cent. Most of the … [Read more...] about EUROPE & CIS: More freighter capacity cuts likely

Lufthansa has indicated it may walk away from its takeover deal for BMI, over the the issue of capital restructuring, according to a Financial Times report. If successful it will own about 80 per cent of shares, but obstructing the deal is the issue of who will pay for the capital restructuring, with BMI management saying it’s not needed. The German carrier is also said to be seeking up to €500 million in ‘restructuring’ aid. Lufthansa also has a number of … [Read more...] about EUROPE & CIS: Lufthansa may walk away from BMI deal

British Airways has reported a record £401 million (US$640 million) pre-tax loss in the fiscal year 2008 ending 31 March on the back of last year’s record high fuel prices and slumping demand later in the year as the global economy stalled. BA full-year revenue was up 2.7 per cent, but fell eight per cent in the fourth quarter, the first decline since 2007. The carriers’ cargo division, BA World Cargo reported commercial revenue (flown revenue plus fuel … [Read more...] about EUROPE & CIS: BA posts record losses

A Dutch executive with Martinair will serve eight months in jail and pay a US$20,000 fine for his part in an international air cargo price-fixing conspiracy,the US Justice Department said. Franciscus Johannes de Jong, aka Frank de Jong, formerly the vice president of cargo sales in Europe, agreed to plead guilty to fixing air cargo rates as part of a global conspiracy that ran from 2002 to 2006, the Justice Department said. De Jong and his co-conspirators “engaged in a conspiracy … [Read more...] about EUROPE & CIS: Martinair exec latest to face jail over price-fixing