Mainland airline in cargo pact with KLM
China Southern Airlines next month will join Dutch carrier KLM to offer freighter services between Shanghai and Amsterdam, the mainland carrier's second cargo destination in Europe.
The Guangzhou-based carrier will fly a 100-tonne capacity B747 freighter two times a week from October 15 between Shanghai's Pudong airport and Amsterdam-Schiphol in the Netherlands.
Including KLM's twice-weekly service, the carriers will offer more than 3,200 tonnes of uplift, which they will share equally, between the cities.
'We picked Amsterdam as our second European destination because we see prospects there. It is a cargo hub and the demand is strong,' said a China Southern spokesman.
The China airline late last year joined with European express operator TNT International Express to offer cargo services between Shenzhen and Liege, Belgium, via Shanghai.
'TNT has a good distribution network in Europe and we may further co-operate with it in the future,' he said.
For KLM Cargo, the additional frequencies from the China Southern tie-up will widen its Asia-Europe customer base.
Corneel Koster, KLM Cargo's sales director (East Asia, China, Hong Kong and Korea), said it would consider adding frequencies if demand was strong.
He declined to say whether KLM had the traffic rights to do so.
'The co-operation allows us to share space and we can offer a better spread of products. Combining Europe and Chinese airlines will generate better profits.
'We have a good relationship with China Southern,' Mr Koster said.
