Brussels Airlines, Lufthansa to begin cargo space agreement Sept. 1

This week, Brussels Airlines and its parent carrier, Lufthansa announced a start date for a cargo sharing agreement announced earlier this year that will allow Lufthansa to market bellyhold capacity on the Belgian subsidiary carrier, while offering Brussels Airlines access to Lufthansa’s portfolio of international destinations.

For Lufthansa, the deal is a shortcut to capitalizing on European-African trade routes, adding 15 destinations served by Brussels Airlines in West, East and Central Africa to its network.

Reinout Puissant, the global platform manager at Brussels Airlines Cargo, said the agreement will allow Brussels Airlines “to make even better use of our freight capacity,” which includes 10 wide-body and 43 narrow-bodies, while utilizing Lufthansa Cargo air waybill system.

Earlier this year, the German carrier turned heads when it began charging a fee of €1 per shipment to customers who chose not to opt for its paperless e-air waybill option – a fee that will increase to €12 per shipment in October.

Brussels Airlines is the fifth passenger airline whose cargo capacities are “brought to the market” by Lufthansa Cargo, Brussels said, in addition to Austrian Airlines, Eurowings and SunExpress.