Lufthansa Cargo to sell Brussels Airlines’ belly space

Lufthansa Cargo will market the cargo capacities of Brussels Airlines, owned by the Lufthansa Group, from September, a move the two airlines claim will benefit customers by offering a wider network.
The companies said the move will give Brussels Airlines’ customers access to Lufthansa Cargo’s route network, which includes around 300 destinations in over 100 countries.
Meanwhile, Lufthansa Cargo customers’ route network will be supplemented by new destinations in west, east and central Africa, directly from Brussels.
Brussels Airlines operates, among others, 17 African destinations, including Dakar, Monrovia, Abidjan, Douala, Kinshasa and Entebbe. The capacities will be marketed under 020 AWB.
"With the integration of the cargo capacities of Brussels Airlines, the offer for our customers will become even more attractive and even larger," said Lufthansa Cargo chief commercial officer Alexis von Hoensbroech.
"Brussels Airlines’ African destinations are complementary to our existing network and thus ideally complement our connections."
Brussels Airlines chief executive Christina Foerster added: "Lufthansa Cargo has a lot of experience in marketing the cargo capacities of passenger airlines.
"This co-operation will help us to make even better use of the freight capacities of our fleet. And we, as the European Africa specialist, can add new destinations to Lufthansa Cargo’s offering."
A Brussels Airlines spokesperson said the move did not include any layoffs of Belgian workforce in either company and would in fact create even more job opportunities.
Brussels Airlines Cargo staff will become part of Lufthansa Cargo, the spokesperson added.
Brussels Airlines is the fifth passenger airline whose cargo capacities are marketed by Lufthansa Cargo.
The cargo capacities of Lufthansa and subsidiaries Austrian Airlines, Eurowings and Sun Express (50% owned) are already available to Lufthansa Cargo customers.
With the marketing of Brussels Airlines, belly capacities of 10 wide-body aircraft will be added. Lufthansa Cargo also operates 17 freighters and uses freighter capacities from Aerologic, a joint venture of Lufthansa Cargo and DHL Express.
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