Cargolux strengthens South American presence with new Santiago route

On June 14, Cargolux Airlines reinstated its scheduled freighter service to Santiago (SCL) in Chile. The new scheduled freighter service, however, has been redesigned to offer four additional destinations as regular connections between Europe and South America.  

The carrier will fly a weekly route connecting Luxembourg (LUX)-Viracopos (VCP)-SCL-Bogota (BOG)-Aguadilla (BQN), before returning to Cargolux’s LUX hub via Amsterdam (AMS). In 2013, the carrier flew the LUX-SCL route, with a stop in VCP, once weekly. The new route expands Cargolux’s network in South America and is intended to offer the company opportunities for development in the Latin American cargo market. Further detail regarding the route’s schedule and aircraft are yet to be announced. 

According to Cargolux’s Vice President of the Americas, Pier Curci, the route addition is a testament to the region’s importance in global trade lanes, especially in relation to perishables such as fruit and flowers – supported by the boom in cold-chain technology we have seen this year, as pursued by stakeholders across air cargo supply chains globally. 

Recently, Cargolux bolstered its cold-chain capabilities through a deal with temperature-controlled packaging company Thermosafe. The carrier also expanded its network to connect Hong Kong (HKG)-Mexico City (MEX) and Budapest (BUD)-Zhengzhou (CGO).