Cargo airline AeroLogic, a 50:50 joint venture between DHL Express and Lufthansa Cargo, will take delivery of a brand-new Boeing 777F freighter in January next year taking its fleet to 11 aircraft.
Lufthansa Cargo will market all of the new freighter’s capacity under a newly adapted capacity-sharing business model for the joint venture.
“With 11 Boeing 777Fs in the future, we will operate one of the world’s most modern and efficient freighter fleets. This will strengthen our position as an attractive employer at the heart of Germany and ensure flexible additional capacity for our partners”, said Wolfgang Raebiger, Managing Director of Aerologic GmbH.
Commenting on the prospect of an additional B777F, Peter Gerber, CEO and Chairman of the Lufthansa Cargo Executive Board, said: “Together with the two new aircraft for the Lufthansa Cargo fleet, this important investment also underscores our long association with our Frankfurt and Leipzig Airport bases.”
DHL Express recently introduced two freighters of the same type through AeroLogic and has since been marketing their capacity exclusively.
The cargo capacity of the original eight freighters, which have been in operation since 2009/10, is shared between the two partners, being mainly used by DHL Express during the working week and by Lufthansa Cargo at the weekend.
Asked why there appeared to be a move towards 'exclusive' freighter use by either partner in the joint-venture and if the AeroLogic business model was thus changing, a spokesperson for Lufthansa Cargo told CEP-Research: “This (move) is mainly due to the market situation. The allocation of capacities according to certain weekdays works for the first eight aircraft, but at present not beyond that. That is why this new model was chosen recently.”
The spokesperson added that the AeroLogic contract that linked DHL Express and Lufthansa Cargo and which began in 2009, was open-ended and there were no plans to change the 50-50 jv structure.
Asked why DHL Express had not added the two B777Fs directly to its own fleet and opted to source them through AeroLogic instead, a company spokesperson told CEP-Research: "There is always a mix of reasons why aircraft will be operated by ourselves or by our different partner airlines (including Aerologic), such as routing, landing rights, maintenance, and similar factors.
“The purchase of aircraft is part of our normal fleet replacement and capacity upgrade program and the two Boeing 777F joined our fleet of approximately 250 dedicated cargo aircraft.”
He declined to comment on when the aircraft had joined the fleet nor the specific routes they were flying, only adding that their operation were "dictated by the business."
The DHL spokesperson added: "There is no change in the joint venture and Aerologic’s operating model."
The route network of AeroLogic comprises roughly 20 destinations in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, South America and North America. During the week, AeroLogic mainly flies to Asia within the express network of DHL Express, and on the weekend to the USA within the network of Lufthansa Cargo.
