Comment / The Aerologic is clear as DHL dumps Atlas JV and goes with Lufthansa

© Mikhail Mishchenko |

The closure of DHL’s Polar Air Cargo joint venture with Atlas Air barely registered in its annual results out today. 

But high costs do appear to be behind the decision to shutter the carrier. 

DHL acknowledged its “early exit”, and pointed to a “structural reset” ? or airfreight network redesign in Europe and the US – as part of its group-wide cost programme “Fit for Growth”, targeting cost savings with an end of 2026 run rate of >€1bn. 

That puts Polar quite firmly ...