Air freight remains a growth market for Lufthansa Cargo

Lufthansa Cargo achieved a good annual result in 2014 with challenging conditions; „Frankfurt is in the heart of Europe’s industrial sector“

Lufthansa Cargo achieved an operating profit of EUR 100 million in 2014. This represents a significant increase for the cargo airline when compared with the previous year (EUR 79 million). In Frankfurt Peter Gerber, Chairman of the Executive Board and CEO presented a result for the year that stood out from the competition and was achieved in a challenging market environment. The airline expects further profit increases in the current year.

Although global demand for air freight increased slightly in 2014, traffic at Lufthansa Cargo declined initially and did not fully meet expectations dating from the beginning of the year. However, good business around Christmas contributed to improved demand towards the end of the year.

Peter Gerber, who has been Lufthansa Cargo’s CEO since 1 May 2014, emphasised that “air freight is and will continue to be a growth market”. Despite growth rates being slightly lower than in the past, he was confident that air freight will always be the only viable transport option for certain goods. Major exporting regions like Germany are an excellent long-term basis for the air freight sector.

“Frankfurt is in the heart of Europe’s industrial sector. Geographically, it’s much better positioned than London or Paris. The metropolis is the main European hub for our customers, the major international freight forwarders. They have their main consolidation centres here. It’s an ideal location for an airline like us to continue investing,” said Gerber. Lufthansa Cargo wants to act on the opportunities provided by its location and expand on its market position in Europe.

The cargo airline is also in the process of implementing a modern IT system for freight handling which is based on a well-proven industry solution. The roll-out is scheduled for completion by this autumn.

The strategic eCargo project, which involves the digitalisation of all of the company’s main processes, is also picking up pace. “We are optimising processes and improving how data is exchanged. This will enable us to improve our quality and speed even further,” explained Peter Gerber.

Quelle: LogEastics
Portal: www.logistik-express.com