Lufthansa Cargo’s Dorothea von Boxberg Impresses ACD

The package labeled “development perspectives” Mrs von Boxberg presented to the 90 attendees of the German Air Cargo Club’s (ACD) year-end meeting held in Frankfurt last Tuesday was colored in enchanting green. In many cultures, green is the symbol color for optimism, growth, and vitality. And her presentation was full of confidence concerning the future of Lufthansa Cargo’s business but also the industrial development as such in times ahead.
Her optimistic outlook was appreciated by freight forwarders and GSAs in view of the global political and economic challenges.
They also were the first to learn that the carrier is launching a new app for digitalizing Dangerous Goods documentation.

In her presentation, she referred to the latest Seabury study, forecasting annual growth rates in cargo averaging 3.7 percent within the next two years at world level. Luring risks like aggravating tariff conflicts between the U.S. and China or the EU or economic hiccups caused by Brexit will only marginally and for a limited period of time influence the long-term upswing of the air freight industry, she predicted.

Toothbrushes say it all
As proof of her assertion she showed a surprising slide displaying toothbrushes. People earning less than two dollars a day use their forefingers for brushing their teeth because for them possessing a toothbrush is pure luxury. In contrast, a person earning up to eight dollars per day is able to buy one brush, however, used jointly by him and his family members. But in case somebody has a daily income of up to 32 dollars he or she can afford buying as many toothbrushes as needed in the specific household.
The essence of her message: spendings on leisure, culture and health increase with growing income, driving air freight demand. For instance, in China meanwhile estimated 750 million people belong to the middle class, being active consumers, demanding domestic but also increasingly international products.
For Lufthansa Cargo this has led to more or less balanced loads from China to Europe and on eastbound routes as well.

More people, more wealth, more air freight
Another long-term growth driver is the constant rise in population, upping the demand for consumables, pharmaceuticals or fancy articles. This might modify trade flows with intra-Southeast Asian freight transports outpacing volumes flown on trans Pacific or transatlantic routes, but it drives demand for air transports in general. Mrs von Boxberg’s basic formula: The increase in population spreads the global consuming class, ups the demand for air freight.
Also were the first to learn that Evidenced by eCommerce that’s going through the roof since years.

eCommerce market grows very fast, Lufthansa Cargo further expands its digital offering
With regard to eCommerce, LH Cargo’s Chief Commercial Officer forecasts growth rates of annually 25 to 30 percent on transnational trade lanes in the years ahead. She added to this, however, that standard freight still accounts for more than 50 percent of all goods flown by her airline.
Asked by CargoForwarder Global if LH Cargo intends offering customers a specific eCommerce product, she said that the approach regarding the eCommerce market is not finally decided yet.
Instead, Mrs von Boxberg announced the launch of a new cloud application ‘DGD.online’ that is usable since today (17 Dec). After handling the world’s first dangerous goods shipment with an electronic Dangerous Goods Declaration (eDGD) at Frankfurt Airport in September, Lufthansa Cargo has gone one step further. DGD.online helps shippers digitize their dangerous goods processes and enables paperless collaboration with logistics service providers.

Lufthansa Cargo is the world's first cargo airline to provide an application for the digital creation of transport documents in the dangerous goods sector. The new service DGD.online supports shippers’ sustainably and is equally applicable in the areas of air freight, road and sea transport. For the developers, a high degree of user-friendliness as well as value-adding validation and comfort functions, which were developed together with pilot customers, were in the focus, the executive told CargoForwarder Global.