Lufthansa Cargo, SAS Cargo and Singapore Airlines Cargo Alliance Enters the Market; from October 1 Customers Will Benefit from an Extended Network and Harmonised Express Products

Business Wire, Sept 26, 2001

Business Editors

FRANKFURT & COPENHAGEN & SINGAPORE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 26, 2001

From October 1, 2001 the alliance partners Lufthansa Cargo, SAS Cargo and Singapore Airlines Cargo will be offering their customers harmonised Express products. The announcement was made today by Dr. Andreas Otto, member of the Executive Board of Lufthansa Cargo AG, Hwang Teng Aun, President of Singapore Airlines Cargo, and Peter Gronlund, President & CEO of the SAS Cargo Group.

The three partners laid the foundation stone for their alliance on April 26, 2000. Until now it has been known as "New Global Cargo". Lufthansa Cargo is the largest freight carrier in the world and Singapore Airlines Cargo the third-largest. Both airlines have global networks. SAS Cargo has a strong presence in Scandinavia and a closely meshed network. Together, the alliance opens up new markets - particularly in Asia, Scandinavia, Australia, North America and Northern Europe - to its customers. The three partners operate a network of 493 destinations worldwide in 103 countries on five continents. The alliance has access to a total of 31 all-freighter aircraft and the belly capacities of 612 passenger aircraft, many of which are wide-body aircraft.

From October, the three airlines' premium Express services - "td.Flash" from Lufthansa Cargo, "SAS Priority" from SAS Cargo and "Swiftrider" from Singapore Airlines Cargo - can be booked to and from the partner airlines Express stations. The partners have harmonised their premium Express products and agreed on the relevant IT support as well as common standards and handling processes.

From October 1 customers of the alliance can book their Express shipments through the reservations centre of the first partner, even if it involves carriage on flights operated by all three partners. The standards of the chosen Express product will be delivered across the services of all 3 partners. Customers can expect "Seamless, Safety and Control" as though their shipment were being handled by just one carrier. In future, all three Express services will be "time definite" products with clearly defined Latest Acceptance Time and Time of Availability. With this move the carriers are further integrating their products into modern supply chain management processes. For the convenience of customers, all Express shipments up to 100 kg will be automatically confirmed, with the performance guaranteed for each product across the alliance network.

"Our alliance will provide more and more benefits for our customers. Even today we can proudly say: We fly what our customers want, when they want it, and where they want it," Dr. Andreas Otto commented, summing up the effects of the partnership.

"From SAS Cargo's point of view the alliance is the best way to meet our customers' requirements and ensure the future growth and development of the cargo business to the benefit of our customers, our staff and our owner," Peter Gronlund adds. President of Singapore Airlines Cargo, Hwang Teng Aun, said "We can now offer customers the assurance of unrivalled consistency. On top of that, they will enjoy the efficiency of dealing with just one point of contact for express shipments carried across the network of the three partners."

As a strong team with a total of over 7,000 employees, Lufthansa Cargo, SAS Cargo and Singapore Airlines Cargo aim to press ahead with expanding their alliance and optimising their services for the benefit of customers. Harmonising their Express products is the first step on the way to harmonising their respective product portfolios. Work to align the general cargo products is already in full swing.

It was originally planned that "WOW", the new brand name of the alliance, would be announced along with the start of the Express Product. In view of the tragic attacks in the United States and the uncertainty of the further course of events, the alliance partners have decided to defer the announcement campaign for the alliance brand to a later date. Advertisements announcing the brand name, however, will still be seen in media publications that were already in print at the time this decision was made.

Note to Editors: This press release is also accessible online at www.Waymaker.net.

The following files are available for download: http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2001/09/26/20010926BIT00330/bit0002.doc http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2001/09/26/20010926BIT00330/bit0002.pdf