Three-airline alliance launches joint general cargo service

A NEW tripartite general cargo airfreight alliance, bringing together industry majors Lufthansa Cargo, SAS Cargo and Singapore Airlines Cargo, takes to the air on April 1.
Brand-named WOW! - the reaction it aims to elicit from its customers rather than an acronym for the service - the 'New Global Cargo' alliance will provide a joint general cargo service, bookable at the reservation centre of any of the three carriers to destinations in the combined network.
It will offer a time-definite guarantee for transport and delivery, retaining the general cargo names used by each carrier - td. Pro for Lufthansa and 'General Cargo' for SAS and Singapore.
This latest development follows the launch by the three airlines last October of a joint express product that enables the customer to book the premium express services - td.Flash from Lufthansa, SAS Priority and Swiftrider from Singapore Airlines Cargo - to any point in the trio's worldwide express network.
The harmonised express service is backed by connected IT infrastructure as well as common standards and handling processes.
According to Dr Andreas Otto, a member of the executive board at Lufthansa Cargo, preparations are underway to harmonise more of the three airlines' services.