Fraport Cargo Services (FCS) has won a new customer at Frankfurt Airport in the shape of China Southern Cargo.
The Chinese carrier operates 11 flights per week from Germany’s busiest hub, and FCS expects to handle 70,000 tonnes of cargo shipments per year as a result. “We are proud that China Southern Cargo has demonstrated its confidence in our expertise and professionalism in the field of cargo handling,” says FCS managing director, Diana Schöneich. “This further underlines the market position enjoyed by FCS as the largest neutral provider at Europe’s most important cargo hub.”
From 25 February, FCS will take over handling, and be in charge of five weekly freighter turnarounds flying between the airline’s home in Guangzhou (China) and Frankfurt (Germany). The airline also serves the Shanghai-Frankfurt route six times a week and its fleet consists of Boeing 777 Freighters, which have capacity for carrying up to 100 tonnes.
FCS has also received the early extension of a cargo handling contract with AirBridgeCargo Airlines (ABC), which is its largest customer at Frankfurt Airport. The decision by the Russian cargo carrier has been made well in advance of 31 December 2016, when the original contract ended and continues its partnership with FCS that first begun in 2008. FCS tells Air Cargo Week the value of the extension is primarily not a monetary one, but as a long term partnership, which for planning purposes is a great advantage.
Schöneich says, it is “clear proof of confidence” in FCS by ABC, “as it is an airline with high standards of security, quality, and service. We will continue to do our utmost to meet the expectations of our largest customer also in the future.”
In the October to March schedule for 2014/15, ABC has increased frequencies to and from Frankfurt from 14 to 17 flights per week. In 2014, Fraport handled 2.1 million tonnes of cargo, and in Europe, Frankfurt Airport is the third busiest for cargo tonnage handled. ABC operates a fleet of 13 Boeing 747 Freighters including six of the new generation Boeing 747-8 Freighter.
