Air France - KLM moving cargo operation to Martinair

[el caballero rojo]

According to a German website AF-KLM want to move their whole cargo operation to MP Martinair.

Martinair wird neuer Luftfrachtgigant - Strategie - Management - airliners.de (http://www.airliners.de/nachrichten/bereiche/management/strategie/martinair-wird-neuer-luftfrachtgigant/19109)

They claim the drop in cargo rates is the reason.

[G&T ice n slice]

and in english :

Aircargo Asia Pacific - Air France-KLM to restructure further? (http://www.impactpub.com.au/aircargo/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4384&Itemid=60)

ITZ-Homepage: Martinair takes over Air France-KLM freighter fleet (http://www.transportjournal.com/index.php?id=425&tx_ttnews%5BpS%5D=1253144829&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=15604&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=415&cHash=cbe5d6e3b7)

Air France-KLM to Restructure | Journal of Commerce (http://www.joc.com/node/413351)

Nothing on their own websites that I could find (doesn't mean it isn't there, just that I am too useless to find it....)

[TopSwiss 737]

KLM will move all of it's full freighter aircraft to daughter company Martinair from the start of the winter season. All 4 B747-400ERF's will then be operated by Martinair, according to top manager Michael Wisbrun of Air France-KLM.

Already 2 of the 747's were operated by Martinair since June.

'We will adjust the freight hub at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, whereby martinair concentrates on cargo flights en we as KLM will put the focus on belly- and combi capacity', Wisbrun said this morning (September 21st, 2009) at a conference of Air France and KLM cargo.

Source: Nieuwsblad Transport (http://www.nieuwsbladtransport.nl/nieuws/id27282-KLM_neemt_afscheid_van_vrachtvliegtuigen.html)(in Dutch)

[altayaara]

This is very bad news for the freighter operators.

Since this spring Air France and KLM are constantly downturning freight rates to ridiculous low figures, which do even not pay for the fuel, especially on the Middle-East routings.
Now they will also screw the rates to and from Latin America.
No wonder they had such a big loss.
Under the Martinair umbrella they will reprofile themselves and make all smaller freighter operators life very difficult.

We'll just wait and see and hope they do not affect our latin market.

[G&T ice n slice]

If I recall...

Plan "A" was KLM with Martinair with Transavia

Freighters under MP banner
Pax (sked) under KL banner
Pax (charter/Incl.Tours) under T/avia banner

Seperate business units for
sked cargo - dull & boring but predictable under "KLM"
charter cargo - speciality of the original MP
Sked pax as KLM
I/Tour as another
pax charter another

Then the EU anti-competition bods screwed it all up for 20 years
Then by the time it gets near happening it's AF-KL so whole new ball game again

Hey ho...