German Cargo Services

GmbH (; ) is a type of Juridical person, legal entity in German-speaking countries. It is equivalent to a (Sàrl) in the Romandy, French-speaking region of Switzerland and to a (Sagl) in the Ticino, Italian-speaking region of Switzerland. It is a ...

, operating as German Cargo, was an

airline An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers or freight (cargo). Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines ...

from ( West) Germany that operated cargo flights on behalf of

Lufthansa Deutsche Lufthansa AG (), trading as the Lufthansa Group, is a German aviation group. Its major and founding subsidiary airline Lufthansa German Airlines, branded as Lufthansa, is the flag carrier of Germany. It ranks List of largest airlin ...

, of which it was a wholly owned subsidiary.

History

IATA The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is an airline trade association founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tariff conferences tha ...

regulations at the time meant

could only offer limited cargo services. Therefore, German Cargo was set up as a non-IATA airline in 1977, accommodating Lufthansa's cargo charter operations. Flight services started on 8 May of that year, initially using a

Boeing 707 The Boeing 707 is an early American long-range Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliner, the first jetliner developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype, the initial first flew on Decembe ...

, and the airline was based at

Frankfurt Airport Frankfurt Airport ( ) , is Germany's busiest international airport by passenger numbers, located in Frankfurt, Germany's fifth-largest city. Its official name according to the German Aeronautical Information Publication is Frankfurt Main Airpor ...

, Lufthansa's hub. German Cargo began operating scheduled cargo flights as well, mainly to Eastern Africa and the Middle East. The transport of live animals played an important role in the airline's business portfolio. The interiors of two Douglas DC-8 aircraft were refurbished to accommodate horses. The airline also specialized in the transport of large, damageable goods. In 1993, Lufthansa reshaped its cargo businesses, splitting German Cargo into two independent, newly founded companies: Lufthansa Cargo for scheduled cargo flights (which inherited German Cargo's ICAO designation), an
Lufthansa Cargo Charter
for charter and lease services. German Cargo was renamed on 1 May of that year and briefly operated as Lufthansa Cargo Airlines. The German Cargo callsign was later resurrected for Lufthansa's joint venture with

DHL DHL (originally named after founders Dalsey, Hillblom and Lynn) is a multinational Import-Export Expert Company, founded in the United States and headquartered in Bonn, Germany. It provides courier, package delivery, and express mail service, ...

and AeroLogic.

Fleet

In its early years, German Cargo operated a fleet of four

aircraft. They were replaced by Douglas DC-8s, which formed the major part of the fleet during most years of the airline's existence. From 1990, the larger

Boeing 747 The Boeing 747 is a long-range wide-body aircraft, wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2023. After the introduction of the Boeing 707, 707 in October 1958, Pan Am ...

as well as the smaller

Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is an American narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Boeing Renton Factory, Renton factory in Washington (state), Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the t ...

were used, that were later transferred to Lufthansa Cargo. In detail, German Cargo operated the following aircraft types (all of which were cargo-configured): During the 1970s and 80s, the aircraft were painted in plain yellow. From 1990, a livery similar to the one used by Lufthansa was used, though with a yellow tail fin featuring the German Cargo logo. File:Douglas DC-8-73AF, German Cargo AN0203135.jpg, A German Cargo Douglas DC-8 approaches Frankfurt Airport in 1992. File:Boeing 707-330C, German Cargo AN2070695.jpg, A German Cargo

at Hamburg Airport in 1985. File:German Cargo Boeing 737-200 JetPix.jpg, A Boeing 737-200 of German Cargo at

in 1991.

References

External links

{{Airlines of Germany Defunct airlines of Germany Airlines established in 1977 Airlines disestablished in 1993 1977 establishments in West Germany Defunct cargo airlines Lufthansa Cargo airlines of Germany German companies disestablished in 1993 German companies established in 1977