Germany celebrates 100 years of cargo

GERMANY has been celebrating the centenary of the first air cargo flight in the country. On 19 August 1911 a single-engined Harlan aircraft took off from Berlin-Johannisthal Airport for Frankfurt carrying the latest issues of the Berliner Morgenpost daily.

Lufthansa led the German celebrations with a range of events, with guest of honour Colonel Gail Halvorsen (second from the right), a well-known US cargo pilot during the Berlin Airlift, a response to the Soviet blockade of Berlin in 1948.

“Airfreight underpins growth and drives our successful economy,“ said Lufthansa’s chief executive officer Christoph Franz. “For Germany especially, as the world’s second biggest exporting nation, a functioning and efficient air cargo industry is of existential importance.“

Lufthansa Cargo’s head, Karl Ulrich Garnadt, stressed the need for future investment and appreciation form the public and government. “The threatened ban on night flights at Germany’s major airport in Frankfurt is just one example of the difficult issues facing the airlines,” he said. “If companies are to invest heavily in the infrastructure or modern and efficient aircraft, however, they require planning security.”