CargoLogic Germany operates maiden commercial flight to CGN

Leipzig (LEJ)-based CargoLogic Germany (CLG) has commenced commercial operations with a revenue flight between Paderborn (PAD) and Cologne (CGN) that took place on Saturday, Nov. 2. The flight utilized one of two freighter-converted 737-400Fs in the carrier’s fleet.

“We  are indeed now operating revenue flights on behalf of a customer out of Cologne,” the carrier confirmed in a written statement,

The flight is a welcome breakthrough for the startup carrier, which, despite assembling a freighter fleet based in Germany, had struggled to secure an air operator’s certificate (AOC) from Luftfahrt-Bundesamt (LBA), the German civil aviation authority. What normally would have been a straightforward process for a startup with aircraft and crews ready to go ultimately ended up taking much longer for CargoLogic Germany. At issue was the source of the carrier’s funding, which led to concern from European carriers about whether the startup was in fact German-controlled. While the carrier refers to itself as an “independently owned” German Airline, its parent company CargoLogic Holding shares the same owner as Russia-based Volga-Dnepr Group.

Despite the affiliation, CLG’s locally based management and operations teams were sufficient to qualify it for a German AOC. An AOC was ultimately granted in September.