German airline Lufthansa (LH) Cargo and the DHL Aviation division of mail and logistics group Deutsche Post have settled on the new brand name of their 50/50 cargo joint venture. The JV, formerly known as NewCo has been named AeroLogic.

The cargo newcomer will be airborne in April 2009 and service 17 global destinations, among them Singapore, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Dubai, Mumbai and destinations in the US.

According to DHL's Global Aviation CEO Charles Graham, 61 per cent of the total transport capacity will be marketed by DHL Express while LH Cargo will market the rest. From Monday to Friday the aircraft will fly on behalf of DHL with LH Cargo acting as co-loader. During weekends however, LH Cargo will deploy the freighters on their own intercontinental routes, mainly to the US.

"It's a work sharing model that guarantees very high load factors and diminishes our costs," stated Carsten Spohr, CEO of LH Cargo during the presentation of the new carrier in Frankfurt in late January. He assured his customers "neutral transports" with no DHL access to the documents and shipping details.

As DHL manager Graham pointed out the flights enable his enterprise a substantial reduction of lead times for door-door transport between Europe and Asia and therefore, "they deliver additional value to our customers," he said.

To get off the blocks Aero- Logic will see an initial investment of 15 million euros. The first Boeing 777F is supposed to take off at the end of March 2009 with the second freighter following in April next year. In fall 2009 two additional B777F will follow with four more freighters to join the fleet in 2010.

The new airline - soon to be Europe's fourth biggest cargo carrier - is scheduled to be fully operational in 2012, deploying eleven B777Fs and creating approximately 1,000 new jobs, mainly at their home-base Leipzig/Halleairport.

"Our aim to start operations in early spring next year is indeed quite ambitious," conceded AeroLogic's general manager Thomas Pusch. Until then three main tasks are on the agenda: The traffic rights for most intercontinental routes have to be obtained, ground service providers have to be evaluated at the individual destinations and the recruiting process for sufficient cockpit personnel has to be undertaken.

The pilot issue, in particular, could prove to be quite a challenge since there is a very limited number of qualified captains and first officers for the B777 in the market. But despite of the shortage of qualified candidates the AeroLogic managers are optimistic they will get enough applications in the weeks ahead and thus avoid the situation Lufthansa's Chinese subsidiary, Jade Cargo found itself in - having to ground their brand new Boeing 747- 400 freighters temporarily at their Shenzhen hub due to severe crew shortage.

For the start in April next year at least 20 captains and 20 first officers are needed. Until 2012 when the eleventh B777F is expected to join the fleet as back-up aircraft the number of cockpit crews will grow to 200, according to AeroLogic's co-general manager, Thomas Papke.

Indian air express and courier firm Blue Dart is looking to add new cargo facilities and expand existing ones at major domestic airports as demand soars.

The company is setting up a 1,000 square metre temporary facility at Hyderabad Airport at a cost of about INR250 million (US$6.2 million), which would be operational by end of March 2008. This would be increased to about 2,500 square metres in the coming months, according to a report in DNA Money.

Blue Dart currently has a 1,500 square metre facility at HAL Bangalore International Airport and is constructing a larger facility of 9,500 square metres at Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL), which is scheduled to replace HAL.

The new facility, which would be shared by DHL would be set up at a cost of INR650 million (US$16.3 million) and will be operational by April 2008.

Blue Dart is also expecting approval for expansion of its 2,500 square metre facility at Delhi Airport.

"This is a temporary facility for one year, further we will get 11,000 sq m space at Delhi Airport, for which we have already got approvals,"according to Blue Dart managing director, Anil Khanna.

Blue Dart is also setting up 32 warehouses and transit hubs this year for a total investment of nearly INR300 million (US$7.5 million). The few locations that have been identified are Hyderabad, Nagpur, Vizag, Pondicherry and some areas in Mumbai and Delhi.

Blue Dart will also add a new Boeing 757 to its fleet by second half of 2008. The company, of which DHL Express Singapore Pvt Ltd owns an 81 per cent stake, currently operates four Boeing 737s and two Boeing 757s.

In a bid to cut costs and shore up its shaky US express business which is facing immense pressure from more entrenched competitors, Fedex and UPS, DHL Express USA recently announced plans to reduce its workforce by nearly 600 employees. Th e company said the decision was made, "as part of a broader strategy to lower general and administrative costs across its US express delivery business in light of the current economic climate and market demands".

DHL Express USA CEO, Hans Hickler, said in a statement that this action is one of several measures DHL Express is taking to improve its competitive position in the US market, which is strategic to the company¡¯s global growth plan.

"These changes will help us better align our cost structure without impacting our unwavering commitment to serve our US customers," he said.

Last month, DHL dismissed speculation that it may exit the US market after it took a US$874 million non-cash write down on DHL Express operations in the country.

DHL has faced an uphill battle for market share since expanding it domestic presence in 2003 with its US$1 billion purchase of Seattle-based Airborne Express.