Lufthansa Cargo has announced a sharp hike in its freight rates as it continues to talk up the possibility of grounding freighters, this time not because of night restrictions, but the poor economic climate. In a letter to its customers at the end of August, Lufthansa Cargo said it is intending to unilaterally increase rates worldwide by 25 per cent. In the letter executive board member Andreas Otto writes: “In order to meet the current market challenges, we will gradually raise … [Read more...] about EUROPE & CIS: Lufthansa hikes rates, talks global fleet grounding

Finnair Cargo has withdrawn from its last remaining freighter operation which saw it operating a B747-400F between Helsinki and Hong Kong in co-operation with Cargolux since November 2004, holding 50 per cent of the capacity on the once-weekly service. Cargolux has consequently ceased its Helsinki - Hong Kong freighter run as well. Finnair’s overall August cargo volumes fell by 11.5 per cent year-on-year while cargo carried on chartered cargo flights plummeted 82.4 per cent. … [Read more...] about EUROPE & CIS: Finnair Cargo bows out of freighter ops

Air France has asked its US partner Delta Air Lines to help assess its internal safety practices following the crash of an Air France jetliner in June that killed 228 people off the coast of Brazil. “We have asked our American partner to conduct an external analysis,” said Véronique Brachet, a spokeswoman for the French carrier, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. But she said talks with Delta on the unusual request have not been finalised. The Air France-KLM … [Read more...] about EUROPE & CIS: Air France turns to Delta for safety

Lufthansa has threatened to close its fleet of freighter aircraft if restrictions on night flights are imposed on its hub at Frankfurt. Carsten Spohr, the CEO of Lufthansa Cargo was quoted by Reuter’s last week as saying that it might no longer pay to have its own cargo fleet. “Everything that goes toward a single-digit number (of flights allowed per night) would mean that it no longer pays off to have our own cargo fleet,” he said according to the report. His … [Read more...] about EUROPE & CIS: Lufthansa threatens to dump freighter fleet

Airbus is forecasting demand for some 25,000 new passenger and freighter aircraft valued at US$3.1 trillion between 2009 and 2028, according to the European airframer’s latest global market forecast. Emerging economies, evolving airline networks, expansion of low cost carriers and the increasing number of megacities as well as traffic growth and the replacement of older less efficient aircraft with more eco-efficient airliners are the driving factors it said. Airfreight tonne … [Read more...] about EUROPE & CIS: Airbus forecasts demand for 25,000 aircraft to 2028

The International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations (FIATA) has announced that Alina Wenzel from Germany is the winner of the “Young International Freight Forwarder Award 2009”. The announcement was made at the 2009 FIATA World Congress held 21-25 September 2009 in Geneva, Switzerland. The congress attracted 650 participants from 78 countries. The main forum “Emergency Case: How are International Organizations acting?” was a highlight, with presentations … [Read more...] about EUROPE & CIS: FIATA awards Wenzel