Lufthansa Cargo is adopting a comprehensive package of measures in responding on the offensive to structural change in the airfreight industry. Within the framework of a company-wide "Excellence + Growth" programme, launched at the end of 2003, the cargo carrier has initiated a broad range of activities to set the airline on course for profitable growth and raise the company's value.

The programme, in essence, is designed to turn Lufthansa Cargo into a process-oriented organisation. The object of the company's process management is to intensify its customer focus, slim down its internal structures and generally speed up its processes.

Additional measures are being taken to fuel growth and further reduce costs.
That also includes saving on labour costs: Ten per cent of the jobs at Lufthansa Cargo (equivalent to 480 employment years) are to be reduced by 2006. The bulk of those cuts will come in administrative areas. Already by the end of the present year, a probable 150 jobs or so will be shed through normal fluctuation.

Chairman Jean-Peter Jansen: "In face of an extremely volatile market environment coupled with aggressive competitors and substantial currency effects, the measures we are taking are essential for achieving lasting, profitable growth. With "Excellence + Growth", we are aiming for a profit of 233 million euros by 2006."

In the first half 2004, Lufthansa Cargo improved operating results year-on-year by eightmillion euros, reducing losses to three million euros. For the full year, the company is expecting a positive operating result despite the negative impact of currency movements and the price pressures resulting from excess capacities in the market.