China Southern, Air France-KLM poised to enact sweeping cargo cooperation

China Southern Airlines Cargo (CZ) and Air France-KLM-Martinair Cargo (AFKLM) are poised to put two years of planning into effect, linking the carriers’ respective route networks and enabling them to offer expanded cargo services to their respective customers.

In 2015, the two carriers signed an initial memorandum of understanding (MoU), setting the stage for more years of jointly investigating and exploiting opportunities in the air cargo market.

The MoU currently on the table “leads to a new phase of cooperation between us,” said Zhao Fengsheng, senior vice president of China Southern Cargo. Fengsheng added that, “we anticipate concrete results coming out of this.” The carriers added that the budding cooperation could “lead to an integrated commercial and operational cargo cooperation model [joint venture] between Europe and China.”

The terms of the MoU are as follows:

• Expand existing cooperation and build mutual experience to connect our cargo business in China, Europe and markets beyond.
• Connect CZ’s position in China and the Asia-Pacific region with AFKLM’s position in Europe, Africa and the trans-Atlantic area, “possibly by sharing capacity and space agreements.”
• Combine CZ and AFKLM Cargo networks (belly and maindeck products) to offer high-frequency services via our hubs at Guangzhou, Shanghai, Paris Charles de Gaulle and Amsterdam Schiphol.
• Provide easy access to each other’s capacity within this combined network cooperation and explore each other’s ground service facilities at home base hubs, which might support quick interline transfers – i.e., the “one roof concept.”
• Increase mail and express business opportunities between China, Europe and the United States.