SAirGroup restructures cargo division
SAirGroup, the troubled parent of Swissair, on Thursday announced a major restructuring of its cargo operations and simultaneously upgraded freight to a core activity as it struggles to restore its financial health following disastrous investments in other European airlines.
The company said a revamped SwissCargo will become a new SAirGroup division and will integrate all freight units, including SAirLogistics, Cargologic, GlobePool and Ixedius. Legally, the companies and their brands remain.
Klaus Knappik, a member of SAirGroup’s management board, will head up the new division, replacing the former head of cargo operations, Ludwig Bertsch who has resigned. Bertsch will remain on the board of Cargolux Airlines International, the Luxembourg-based all-cargo carrier in which SAirGroup has a 33.7% stake.
SAirGroup sought to allay shippers’ concern that it will downgrade cargo following the decision to sell off some of its freight operations as part of a plan to restore the financial position of Swissair.
“The Swissair Group considers airfreight as one of the main pillars of its future overall strategy and maintains the goal of setting up and further pursuing the building of a global airfreight network, ” the company said in a statement.
SAirGroup built SAirLogistics into the world’s fifth-largest air freight network, but it announced disposals of key cargo assets following a $1.7 billion overall loss in 2000, the biggest in its 70-year history. It is selling a 10% stake in Swiss forwarder Panalpina and a 45% stake in SwissGlobalCargo, a joint venture with Panalpina.
