Lufthansa’s time:matters expands network to Asia

Lufthansa Cargo‘s wholly owned time:matters subsidiary, which specializes in urgent shipments, plans to expand its presence to cover the Europe-China, intra-Asia and trans-Pacific markets, according to the company’s CEO.

Speaking to Air Cargo World during Air Cargo Europe 2019 in Munich, Alexander Kohnen said that time:matters had just established a legal entity based in Shanghai to prepare for the expansion. “We plan to develop our Asian network and to open around 10 stations in the region in the next few weeks,” he said. “We’re also looking to develop an intra-Asia network soon.”

The company, which focuses mainly on time-critical shipments in the machinery, automotive, aerospace, semiconductor and life sciences industries, sees much potential in the region for its business, which relies on what Kohnen calls “regular emergencies” that happen almost on a daily basis.

According to Kohnen, the first phase of the expansion will allow time:matters to transport shipments between Europe and China. Then, in the second phase, starting from the fourth quarter of 2019 or the first quarter of next year, the company will extend that to cover Southeast Asia, Japan and South Korea, as well as intra-Asia shipments. In the third phase, time:matters will also launch a legal entity in the United States to enable trans-Pacific shipments.

time:matters offers same-day air transport solutions across Europe and to and from Israel, the U.S. and Mexico, using belly and freighter capacity on Lufthansa as well as other partner airlines. The company acquired CB Customs Broker and Customs Broker Cargo Handling last year, integrating customs clearance and handling expertise with its own services.