Lufthansa plans to expand its services to some second-tier airports in China in order to extend cargo business into more large urban centers, said Jean-Peter Jansen, chairman of Lufthansa Cargo AG.
He gave no details of potential new partners, pending final board approval.
Lufthansa's cargo operations are now concentrated in Beijing, Shanghai, southwestern Sichuan province and the Pearl River Delta adjacent to Hong Kong. Jansen said the German carrier will seek to enlarge its market in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, which adjoins Hong Kong.
Baiyun international airport in Guangzhou has a new 1-million-square-foot cargo terminal. Earlier this year, FedEx Corp. signed a cooperation agreement with the Guangzhou Airport Authority.
"Guangzhou is not quite developed at the moment and it will be a future market," Jansen said.
A recent study by London-based consultancy GHK said Baiyun poses a "significant threat" to the cargo business at Hong Kong's Chek Lap Kok airport.
Hong Kong now handles about 90 percent of air-cargo exports from Guangdong province, but forecasts call for that to fall to 47 percent by 2020 as Guangzhou and Shenzhen take a larger share.
Lufthansa moves 720 tons of cargo a week from Hong Kong, compared to 450 tons in Shanghai and 250 tons in Beijing.
Jansen said China is the second most important market for Lufthansa Cargo after Germany. Its volume of freight with China increased annually by 10 percent over the past two years, he said, and 11 percent of revenue last year came from China.
— By P.T. Bangsberg
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