Last week we reported that Cargolux CEO Dirk Reich, in discussing the potential launch of a joint-venture all-cargo airline in China with Henan Civil Aviation Development and Investment Company (HNCA, which owns 35% of Cargolux), had said the decision to launch the carrier had been made – that the question was not “if” but “when” and “how.”

This angered the carrier’s unions, which feared jobs would move to China, and this week the Cargolux Board has stepped in, saying the decision to launch the jv has not been made. “At this point, the airline does not exist; its set-up depends on the outcome and evaluation of the feasibility study that is expected to be finished next month. Only then will the Cargolux Board and management decide on future actions.”

Mr. Reich’s plan to add a stop in Germany on Cargolux’s Luxembourg-Zhengzhou flights was also nixed, with Luxembourg’s Infrastructure Minister François Bausch reportedly rebuking the carrier’s management for its “inadequate and contradictory communications policy”.