From 1 October 2001 the alliance partners Lufthansa Cargo, SAS Cargo and Singapore Airlines Cargo will be offering their customers harmonised Express products. The announcement was made by Dr. Andreas Otto, member of the Executive Board of Lufthansa Cargo AG, Hwang Teng Aun, President of Singapore Airlines Cargo, and Peter Grnlund, President & CEO of the SAS Cargo Group.The three partners laid the foundation stone for their alliance on 26 April 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. 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 1 October 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.

Customers can expect Seamless, Safety and Control as though their shipment were being handled by just one carrier. 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.

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.

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