At the international trade fair transport logistics 2023 in Munich, Lufthansa Cargo, together with subsidiaries heyworld and CB Customs Broker, presented their ambitious plans to strengthen their eCommerce business at Frankfurt Airport.
On Tuesday (May 9, 2023), From the international trade fair transport logistics 2023 in Munich, Lufthansa Cargo AG presented their ambitious plans for Frankfurt Airport. Along with their logistics subsidiary heyworld and customs broker subsidiary CB Customs Broker, Lufthansa Cargo is actively driving the expansion of the eCommerce business at Frankfurt Airport. Commissioned by heyworld in 2019, shipments at the eCommerce hub in Cargo City Nord can automatically be separated from classic freight and quickly transported onward. Another important and highly complex chain link in Lufthansa Cargo’s complete solution is customs clearance of large eCommerce shipment volumes. This important function is fulfilled by the customs clearance agent CB Customs Broker. The company recently developed their own automation software that meets both data protection and regulatory requirements of modern online trading, making the company one of the first customs clearance agencies in Germany to have digitalized 90 percent of the clearance processes.
In Tuesday’s announcement, Lufthansa Cargo’s CEO, Ashwin Bhat, said,
“We clearly experience and see eCommerce as a growth market. A decisive success factor for online trade is the resilience and speed of the supply chain. We want to make Frankfurt a leader in this segment by offering an integrated, holistic solutions for shipping, customs clearance and the further transport of eCommerce shipments.”
Also commenting on the eCommerce expansion at Frankfurt Airport. heyworld’s Managing Director, Boris Hueske, said,
“Our eCommerce hub at Frankfurt Airport enables us to meet growing customer needs for fast deliveries. As a logistics partner, we complement Lufthansa Cargo's offering with innovative software and forwarding solutions that significantly accelerate the clearance and onward transport of eCommerce shipments.”
CB Customs Broker’s Managing Director, Uwe Glunz, added,
“Our new software solution is a real driver for online trade at the Frankfurt location. With this solution, eCommerce shipments can be cleared much more easily and thus processed faster overall. Via API interfaces, the solution can be individually adapted and docked onto customers' existing logistics management systems. This simplifies the exchange of data and documents required for customs clearance and speeds up the entire process.”
In a separate press release on Tuesday (May 9, 2023), Lufthansa cargo further announced that their subsidiary CB Customs Broker GmbH has entered into a new partnership with the handling expert GEORGI Handling. The goal of the commercial collaboration is to further expand the eCommerce business at Frankfurt Airport. To this end, both companies are creating a new eCommerce terminal in Cargo City South. The new facility will open up another important base for the Asian market. Airlines from Asia frequently land in the southern part of the Frankfurt hub, and will therefore now be able to use the companies’ integrated solutions to have eCommerce shipments handled automatically and quickly.
From Left: Uwe Glunz, Managing Director Customs Broker, Christian Georgi, COO GEORGI Transporte, Ashwin Bhat, CEO Lufthansa Cargo, Jürgen Georgi, CEO GEORGI Group, Benjamin Weil, Commercial Director, GEORGI Handling, Murat Odabas, Managing Director Customs Broker, Diana Schöneich, Managing Director GEORGI Handling – Courtesy Lufthansa Cargo
Further commenting on the partnership with GEORGI Handling, CB Customs Broker’s Managing Director, Uwe Glunz, said,
“We want to become the leading expert for eCommerce customs clearance in Germany. To achieve this, we have developed our own software that digitizes all the necessary customs clearance processes and, thanks to the high degree of automation, is able to process large order volumes in a very short time. The new partnership is another milestone towards this vision and enables us to offer our integrated and automated solutions now also in Cargo City South. With GEORGI Handling, we have found a partner that reliably and quickly takes care of the physical handling directly on site. We are thus creating a first-class, innovative offering specifically for the Asian region.”
Initially, the new eCommerce terminal will be operated on around 5,000 square meters in GEORGI Handling’s existing cargo hall in Building 568 on the Cargo City South site. In the medium term the operation of an independent hall with tailored processes for eCommerce handling is planned. Ultimately, the partners plan a fully-automated sorting facility that will guarantee state-of-the-art handling for potential customers in the final expansion stage.
Also speaking on the new partnership with GEORGI handling, Lufthansa Cargo’s CEO, Ashwin Bhat added,
“We want to actively expand the eCommerce market at Frankfurt Airport. Together with our subsidiaries, we have developed a number of innovative solutions for this purpose, which enables us to implement holistic solutions for our customers. The new partnership of our customs expert CB Customs Broker with GEORGI is an important and good further step in this direction.”
With revenue of €4.6 billion and 7.2 billion freight ton kilometers in 2022, Lufthansa Cargo is one of the world’s leading air freight companies, employing approximately 4,100 team members worldwide. The cargo carrier serves around 300 destinations in over 100 countries with a dedicated fleet of freighters, as well as belly-hold cargo capacity of passenger aircraft operated by Lufthansa German Airlines, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Eurowings Discover and SunExpress. In 2022, the company reached important milestones such as the investment of continuous expansion of the Boeing 777F fleet, the expansion of short and medium-haul networks with Airbus A321 freighters, and the continuation of the SAF program. The airline is currently equipping their fleet of dedicated 777 Freighters with Sharkskin technology to reduce drag, and expand their SAF program to further reduce CO2 emissions. The company also operates an extensive road feeder service network. Lufthansa Cargo is a wholly owned subsidiary of Deutsche Lufthansa AG and is the Group’s logistics specialist.
Source: Lufthansa Cargo