Two brands, one brain: is Lufthansa Cargo tightening its grip on Swiss WorldCargo?

A somewhat baffling press release arrived this morning from Lufthansa Cargo. Reading between the lines, it would appear that parent Lufthansa may be going to subsume Swiss WorldCargo into its logistics division. 

That’s not exactly how the carrier put it though. It said: “While both organisations will maintain their distinct brands and strengths, they are aligning closely to lead through the ongoing changes in the airfreight industry and global trade. 

“Over the next months, Lufthansa Cargo and Swiss WorldCargo will unlock synergies in various commercial and operational fields, and creating one face to the customer along with a unified market approach, harmonising range of services, shipment flows, and operational procedures as well as utilising one IT platform, thereby generating added value for the cargo customers and partners of Lufthansa Group.” 

On further questioning, Lufthansa Cargo more or less repeated this, noting each carrier would retain its own AWBs, and adding: “Details of this new form of collaboration are currently being developed. We will inform our customers as soon as we have more information and tangible changes.” 

No further response was forthcoming. But Swiss WorldCargo has always been something of an anomaly in the Lufthansa group. Its other subsidiary airlines – such as Brussels, Austrian, and ITA – are effectively sold by Lufthansa Cargo and form part of the group’s Logistics Division, alongside Jettainer and other cargo-focused subsidiaries. 

The group does not break out Swiss World Cargo’s results, so it is unclear whether this is a move to support a struggling airline or simply a way to smooth processes and cut costs via synergies. 

However, it would appear that this move has been under consideration, with language in recent announcements showing they were strengthening ties. SWC joined LH Cargo’s agreement with United Cargo on the transatlantic in August, noting aligned schedules, standardised handling, joint capacity management, and so on – almost like a test case for an integrated platform. It looks more like a ‘tidying the house’ move than one to prop up SWC. 

So what would it mean for customers? Lufthansa Cargo and SWC as competing sales teams likely gave large forwarders an opportunity to leverage negotiations, an opportunity to exploit the gap between the two carriers. If they fully integrate, this would be lost, along with some flexibility – but there may be other gains for customers, mostly in terms of consistency, such as surcharges, and processes.

Marketing the two companies together as one network, with freighters and premium belly services, on one contract, would certainly simplify things. And it seems likely that operational quality and consistency would benefit customers, particularly with a merging of IT systems and a single booking portal.

Suppliers may not be so lucky, however.

And for Lufthansa, it could cut costs and boost efficiency, creating a more unified cargo platform across the group, which now includes Italy’s ITA as well. 

Swiss WorldCargo has a recognisable brand, as a pharma and high-yield product specialist. But behind the scenes, the pair look set to become two brands, one brain.