SkyTeam Launches World’s Largest Airline Cargo Alliance

AeroMexico Cargo, Air France Cargo, Delta Air Logistics and Korean Air Cargo Extend SkyTeam Alliance Benefits to Worldwide Cargo Service

WASHINGTON, D.C., September 28, 2000 – SkyTeam is extending its customer-focused services to include air cargo with today’s launch of a new alliance, SkyTeam Cargo, the world’s largest cargo airline alliance. The SkyTeam Cargo airlines – AeroMexico Cargo, Air France Cargo, Delta Air Logistics and Korean Air Cargo – are partnering to provide shippers with access to a global route network, common service options, sales and service standards, and an interfaced information technology system that will ensure seamless cargo coordination and delivery throughout SkyTeam’s global network.

Cargo customers will have access to a combined fleet of 1,070 aircraft making 6,810 daily flights to 411 unduplicated destinations in 100 countries. SkyTeam Cargo will maximize its global route network with support from 12 major cargo hubs around the world. Customers also will have a single point of contact for any shipping inquiry. Future IT system interface will provide employees of SkyTeam Cargo airlines with the resources to coordinate inter-airline logistics electronically to most efficiently move each shipment, and provide the best possible service to their customers around the globe.

“The combined efforts of the SkyTeam Cargo partner airlines create the largest commercial airline cargo alliance in the world,” said executives from the four carriers in a joint statement. “With our worldwide reach and a commitment to our customers’ needs, we will be able to offer cargo shippers, forwarders and consolidators a vast network of routes, flight options and departure times, as well as a comprehensive, unified product line.”

SkyTeam Cargo’s fully branded product line comprises four shipping options: Equation, Dimension, Cohesion and Variation.

Equation
Effective January 1, 2001, SkyTeam Cargo will offer its customers Equation, an express product that meets expectancies toward emergency shipments. Equation will offer departure on the first available flight. Shipments will be accepted 90-120 minutes before departure, and delivered 90-120 minutes after landing. The transfer time will be three hours. There is no weight or size limit per shipment for non-perishable goods, but there is a 70-kilogram maximum weight per package. For perishable goods, there is a limit of one package per shipment, and a maximum weight of 70 kilograms per package. Equation will accept almost all commodities, except dangerous goods and live animals. The Equation express service will initially launch in markets served via the Air France Cargo hub at Charles de Gaulle Airport to Europe. The Charles de Gaulle hub in Paris is the most strategically located hub in Europe. Equation will be competitively priced at a minimum charge per shipment, with an added rate per kilogram.


Dimension
Dimension, SkyTeam Cargo’s primary service, is a shipping option that will ensure basic, reliable, on-time, airport-to-airport cargo delivery. Dimension will handle shipment requests for all commodities not requiring special handling specifications, particularly as consolidation shipments. Shipping costs will be determined by bulk or per-container unit load device (ULD) rates.


Cohesion
Cohesion will offer fully customized shipping by collaborating with shippers and forwarders to provide solutions for some or most of the logistics chain. Customers will work with SkyTeam Cargo to commit on network capacities, origin, recovery and transfer times, as well as shipping modes and rates. The Cohesion product is aimed at satisfying shippers who work on a just-in-time (JIT) basis, with steady shipments, such as aeronautics, automotive, pharmaceuticals and electronics.


Variation
Variation is a highly specialized service that adapts to the shipping demands of particular goods/commodities, including valuable, live and perishable goods, as well as shipments requiring special handling. Shipments will have no minimum weight limits, and maximum weight limits will be adjusted according to the aircraft’s loading restrictions. Variation shipping will be charged at per kilogram or unit load device rates.

SkyTeam Cargo was officially introduced at a special event in Washington, D.C., during the Air Cargo Forum 2000, sponsored by The International Air Cargo Association. The four founding partner airlines were represented by Jaan Albrecht, Chief Executive Officer, AeroMexico Cargo; Marc Boudier, Executive Vice President, Air France Cargo; Anthony N. Charaf, Senior Vice President, Delta Air Logistics; and Won-Young Lee, Executive Vice President, Korean Air Cargo.

SkyTeam Cargo is an extension of SkyTeam, the airline alliance launched in June 2000, partnering AeroMexico, Air France, Delta Air Lines and Korean Air. Currently, SkyTeam's network of passenger routes includes more than 6,400 daily flights to 451 destinations in 98 countries.

With SkyTeam Cargo, the alliance continues its goal to provide consistent, high levels of service to all its customers and a network of strategically located hubs in Latin America, Europe, the United States and Asia. For additional cargo information, log onto one of the following Web sites: AeroMexico Cargo, Air France Cargo, Delta Air Logistic or Korean Air Cargo.  For more information about SkyTeam, log onto SkyTeam.



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