Cargolux (CV, Luxembourg) CEO Dirk Reich has outlined some of the proposed details of his carrier's planned new subsidiary, Cargolux China (Zhengzhou). The establishment of the carrier was among the pledges made when Cargolux and imminent shareholder Henan Civil Aviation Development & Investment Company (HNCA), pledged in January of this year to form a joint venture airline company based in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, within 24 to 36 months of their agreement.

Reich told cargoforwarder magazine in an interview that Cargolux China will consider using either B747 or B777-F freighters but will likely settle on B747-8(F)s and/or B747-400(F)s given their commonality with Cargolux's fleet. The associated savings in cost-synergies between the carriers would be of immense benefit he said.

B737 freighters could also feature in the carrier's fleet as they would be used to offer domestic and regional feeder services. Any aircraft used, he said, would necessarily be owned and not leased.

Concerning possible destinations, the CEO said disparity in loads on east-west flights had lead the project's analysts to consider unrestricted airports in Europe such as Cologne/Bonn, Hannover, and Nuremberg. The choice of German airfields was also strategic given that German goods make up almost 20% of the entire tonnage transported by Cargolux from Europe to the Far East.

“Against this background it makes a lot of sense to service one of the airports directly instead of trucking the loads from Germany to Luxembourg first before uplifting them, as we are doing now,” he said.