Celebrating the first anniversary of their business relationship, Lufthansa Cargo and All Nippon Airways (ANA) kicked off the expansion of their joint network between Europe and Japan by adding connected destinations in Japan: first Fukuoka on the main island Kyushu in south Japan, later to be followed by Sapporo on the north island.

ANA flights from Tokyo Haneda to Fukuoka Airport can now be booked via both partners’ booking systems. “Thanks to the joint venture we can connect the wide European network of Lufthansa Cargo, with the direct connections of both partners to Japan and the continental de-feeder flights of ANA”, said Carsten Wirths, area manager for Europe and Africa at Lufthansa Cargo. “Customers of both partners in Germany, France, Belgium, Great Britain and Austria will benefit.”

“Fukuoka and its region are important centers for the steel and automotive industries, as well as for semiconductor technology, electronics, environmental and biotechnology”, added Yukata Terao, project manager at ANA Cargo. “These are sectors which substantially profit from air freight.”

In December 2014, Lufthansa Cargo und ANA Cargo started their close bilateral freight joint venture on flights from Japan to Europe. Last August they expanded the relationship to routes from Germany, France, Great Britain and Austria to Japan. Other destinations in European and Japan followed. The cooperation is characterized by high integration of systems and processes, combined networks, and joint distribution as well as a collocation of handling operations at numerous stations. The joint venture provides customers with significant value such as an extended joint network, numerous flight combinations, more flexibility, time savings and aligned standards.

Currently the Lufthansa-ANA cooperation covers express- and standard shipments. The inclusion of further products is planned for the future.