Lufthansa Cargo and Shenzhen Airlines joint venture will be country's first foreign deal
Germany's government will be an equity holder in a new Chinese freight carrier that Lufthansa Cargo and Shenzhen Airlines are planning to establish in the south of the country. This will be the first time a Chinese carrier has established an airline in China in partnership with a foreign company.
Lufthansa Cargo confirms that Deutsche Investitions Entwicklungsgesellschaft (DEG), a division of KfW Bankengruppe, will own 24% of the yet-to-be-named cargo airline that will operate from the southern city of Shenzhen, where Lufthansa already operates an international airfreight terminal in joint venture partnership with the airport. Lufthansa Cargo will own 25% of the new cargo airline and Shenzhen Airlines will have 51%.
DEG is the division of KfW that is 80%-owned by the German government and is a finance and consulting corporation for German development policy. Its aim is to promote growth in second- and third-world countries through private sector development.
A formal announcement of the deal had been expected imminently, but has been delayed because some details are still to be finalised. But the plan is still to announce it by year-end in Beijing with the help of Chinese government officials.
Lufthansa Cargo wants to establish a cargo hub in Shenzhen because it is one of the cities designated by the CAAC as an international cargo hub. Shenzhen Airlines, which is a passenger carrier, is taking part because it was already planning to enter the cargo business.
Last year Shenzhen looked to lease its own Airbus A300-600 freighters, but scrapped those plans and opted instead to work with Lufthansa Cargo because it realised it lacked the expertise to run a dedicated freight operation.
LEITHEN FRANCIS / BEIJING
Source: Flight International
