Lufthansa Cargo recognizes top customer for the 2018 business year

Logistics company Kuehne + Nagel was named top customer for the 2018 business year at yesterday’s Planet Award of Excellence prize-giving ceremony in Brussels in recognition of its outstanding cooperation with Lufthansa Cargo worldwide. This coveted prize was awarded for the 17th time already during this year’s Global Partner Council, the annual top-level meeting of the most important customers and senior management of Lufthansa Cargo, Europe’s leading cargo airline. This is the second time Kuehne + Nagel has been named Global Partner of Excellence since 2006.

From Left to Right: J. Florian Pfaff, VP Region Germany Lufthansa Cargo; Bernhard Kindelbacher, VP Region USA & Canada Lufthansa Cargo; Dorothea von Boxberg, CCO Lufthansa Cargo; Niek van der Weide, VP Global Head of Carrier Network Optimization, Kühne + Nagel; Peter Gerber, CEO and Chairman Lufthansa Cargo; Harald Gloy, COO Lufthansa Cargo; Thomas Egenolf, VP Region Western Europe Lufthansa Cargo
From Left to Right: J. Florian Pfaff, VP Region Germany Lufthansa Cargo; Bernhard Kindelbacher, VP Region USA & Canada Lufthansa Cargo; Dorothea von Boxberg, CCO Lufthansa Cargo; Niek van der Weide, VP Global Head of Carrier Network Optimization, Kühne + Nagel; Peter Gerber, CEO and Chairman Lufthansa Cargo; Harald Gloy, COO Lufthansa Cargo; Thomas Egenolf, VP Region Western Europe Lufthansa Cargo

Peter Gerber, Lufthansa Cargo CEO and Chairman of the Executive Board, explained when presenting the award why Kuehne + Nagel had been chosen: “Our cooperation with Kuehne + Nagel is professional and trustful at all levels. Furthermore, we have a partner by our side that is known for maximum reliability and its great innovative spirit. That is why we were able to make tremendous progress in the area of digitalization together with Kuehne + Nagel in the 2018 business year: with our joint roll-out team, we succeeded in increasing eAWB use across all shipments to around 80 percent. Our cooperation in terms of tonnage carried was also extremely positive overall last year. Tonnage was up another 9.2 percent compared with 2017. This made Kuehne + Nagel our largest customer in the 2018 business year.”

“We are delighted to have received this award and for this recognition of our good cooperation with Lufthansa Cargo,” said Niek van der Weide, VP Global Head of Carrier Network Optimization at Kuehne + Nagel, who accepted the award. Van der Weide is also confident about the partnership with the cargo airline going forward in 2019: “We have drawn up a joint development plan under which we intend to rigorously pursue increased digitalization, among other things. Further business expansion will also play a key role for us this year.”

The Lufthansa Cargo Global Partnership Program is a key platform for the sustainable growth of Lufthansa Cargo and its most important customers. Apart from Kuehne + Nagel, the twelve Global Partners include CEVA, Dachser, DB Schenker, DHL Express, DHL Global Forwarding, DSV, Expeditors, Hellmann, Nippon Express, Panalpina and UPS. Together, they account for around half of Lufthansa Cargo’s sales. The Global Partner Council was held in 2019 for the 21st time. This annual event brings top-level managers of the world’s leading forwarding companies together with board members and management of Lufthansa Cargo in different locations. The Planet Award of Excellence has been awarded during the Council event since 2002.