Lufthansa Cargo and Austrian Cargo to merge their global activities

Lufthansa Cargo and Austrian Airlines have agreed (24-Feb-2010) to step up cooperation between their two companies in the airfreight sector. Under the new agreement, the flow of cargo traffic through the hubs at Frankfurt, Munich and Vienna will be optimised. Both companies' global distribution activities will be merged through the agreement. Sales and production to be integrated with effect from 01-Jul-2010. [more] The agreement will result in a reduction in the cargo business of Austrian Airlines and reductions to staffing at Austrian's technical maintenance unit (IANS/Agence France-Presse, 24-Feb-2010). 50 of the 200 jobs in Austrian's cargo sector will be elminated from 01-Jul-2010, in addition to approximately 210 technical job reductions from 01-Mar-2010. The carrier stated that a quarter of jobs in cargo and maintenance would be eliminated, reducing employee numbers by 260. Meanwhile, approximately 500 Austrian Airlines flight attendants and pilots staged a short protest against the EUR150 million cost cutting move.