United, Lufthansa cargo joint venture takes flight

The cooperative effort allows the two carriers to manage sales and bookings for standard and express shipments between Europe and the U.S.    United Airlines and Lufthansa Cargo officially have launched their air cargo joint venture, which will allow the two carriers to jointly manage sales and bookings for standard and express shipments on routes between Europe and the United States.
   The joint venture will start this month with select routes from the United States to Italy, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Germany. The operation will be expanded to other European destinations, as well as include other cargo services, in the future, the airlines said.
   “The combination of the two strong networks offers new routing options,” said Peter Gerber, chairman and CEO of Lufthansa Cargo, in a statement. 
   “The co-location of our warehouses, in Munich for example, is an additional benefit, with customers needing only one location for export drop-off and import delivery,” he said. “Aligned processes and quicker transfers between separate warehouses also lead to streamlined transport times.”
   The cargo joint venture was announced by the two carriers in April 2017. At the time, Lufthansa and United anticipated that the implementation, including the alignment of their respective cargo IT systems and business processes, would take about a year to complete.