Swisscargo Ltd., the Swissair Group's airfreight marketing company, and a group of Swiss investors led by the Zurich-based entrepreneur Branco Weiss have signed a Memorandum of Understanding regarding the formation of a new company which is to ensure the continuity of parts of the Swiss airfreight business formerly managed by Swisscargo. Within the Swissair Group, Swisscargo Ltd. was responsible in 85 countries for the worldwide marketing of the airfreight capacities of Swissair, Sabena, and Crossair and generated revenues of 800 million Euro in the year 2000. Having been confronted with a considerable decline in sales already in the wake of the September 11 incidents and the groundings of the Swissair and later on the Sabena fleet, Swisscargo finally had to file for debt moratorium as a direct consequence of the insolvency of Swissair.

New business model with "New Crossair" as first customer

The now signed memorandum foresees the establishment of a new, worldwide operating General Sales and Service Agent (GSSA) organization to be commissioned by passenger airlines to manage their total airfreight businesses. Based on the respective financial investment and the trade-related logistic know-how, the investors together with the airfreight specialists of Swisscargo plan to realize a business model which is unique in its form and to thereby save a good part of the still existing jobs on a long-term basis. A precondition would be to contract the new Crossair as a first or reference customer, whereby the number of long-haul flights operated by the new Swiss airline will be of decisive importance.

According to Branco Weiss, spokesman of the group of investors, the new concept is geared to save the highest possible number of qualified jobs and thus the airfreight know-how so important for Switzerland. Further to that, the business plan foresees the establishment of a worldwide network safeguarding the exporting country's access to a new global airfreight system which expands way beyond the destinations offered by the new Swiss airline.

"Switzerland can look back on a long tradition in the field of logistics and freight transportation," says Branco Weiss. "Swiss forwarders were the ones who co-founded the worldwide forwarding industry, and even today three of the world's biggest forwarder enterprises are Swiss based. That's why we are cautiously optimistic that we will succeed in establishing in Switzerland the first global and airline-independent airfreight marketing company and operate it profitably for the mid term. For this, though, a fruitful cooperation with the new Swiss airline as well as the support by the Swiss forwarders remain preconditions."