“Our focus in 2007 and later will be on the Asian growth markets, first and foremost China and India”. So says the 2006 annual report of Lufthansa Cargo (LHC) signifying the importance India and its eastern neighbour will carry in the world of international cargo movement in the years to come.
Martin Schlingensiepen, LHC Vice President (Asia Pacific) said: “China and India are our strategic markets. We have a clear focus on India.”Upbeat on the Indian opportunities, he told a group of visiting Indian journalists: “We right now have 11 per cent market share in India and want to increase that. We are looking at partnerships with existing passenger airlines to fill their belly space and new cargo airlines which may be launched shortly.”
Mr Schlingensiepen denied that there was any agreement with private carrier Jet Airways on cargo movements but said the talks were on with it and other airlines. “We also want to co-operate with the Delhi international airport limited on cargo handling.”
According to him there’s a lot of potential in the domestic market which has not been utilised.The restructuring and expansion of 30 non-metro airports will give fillip to domestic cargo movement, he said.
LHC currently operates to six Indian cities, including Bangalore where Baba Aviation is helping it out. Having 65 per cent load capacity out of India, LHC wants to be a major cargo player in India. “We want to be global carriers for India. We want to be partners of future development in India,” he said.
According to Mr Schlingensiepen, LHC is talking to different airlines to work out co-operation to carry cargo. “We are looking at belly capacity of new jets to Europe and USA. Partnership with cargo carriers Blue Dart and DHL is also possible. However, we will not rush. We want to go to the domestic market but by partnering with a local airline.”
Even as he welcomed the decision to make Nagpur a cargo hub, the official noted that customs was a bottleneck in India.