Air Freight Alliances Look Likely to Disband

The WOW Cargo Alliance, formed by Lufthansa Cargo, the freight arm of the German airline group Deutsche Lufthansa, together with the freight division of Japan Airlines, SAS Cargo of the Scandinavian group SAS and Singapore Airlines Cargo, looks likely to be discontinued. A source from Lufthansa Cargo has commented that the market has not become sufficiently aware of the advantages offered by the alliance.

A source from the rival air freight alliance, SkyTeam Cargo, which counts eight members including Air France-KLM Cargo of the Franco-Dutch group Air France KLM, the US operator Delta Airlines and Korean Air Cargo among others, has also indicated problems, commenting that member companies have been competing increasingly, rather than co-operating. WOW and SkyTeam Cargo were formed in 2000, aiming to offer customers harmonised networks, seamless transport services worldwide and rapid goods transfers at airports, but members of the WOW alliance are reported, likewise, to have competed among themselves, failing to agree on joint offers.

Abstracted from Die Welt