Jade Cargo

Into the world from the Pearl River Delta

Jade – the first Sino-German airfreight joint venture

The freighters in the fleet of Jade Cargo International owe their distinctive looks to a green aircraft nose and a resplendent white fuselage. The first Boeing 747-400 ERF (Extended Range Freighter) entered service with the new cargo carrier on 15 August 2006. It operates flights linking Shenzhen in southern China with Amsterdam and Seoul in South Korea. Six of the type will be in operation with Jade Cargo and extend its route network by 2008.

Feted arrival of the first Jade freighter in Shenzhen

The Sino-German joint venture between Lufthansa Cargo, Shenzhen Airlines and the Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft (DEG) is well set to stake a leading share in the dynamic growth of airfreight in Asia. China’s economy is booming and Shenzhen is one of the principal growth motors. American, Japanese and European global players have all established plants in Shenzhen to produce electronic, IT and other products. In the onetime fishing village and its immediate surrounds, no less than 7,000 companies and production plants have since set shop. Little wonder that the Pearl River Delta region has become known as the “world’s workshop”. The City now boasts China’s fourth largest airport, the highest per capita income in the Chinese People’s Republic and more skyscrapers than Manhattan. “Into the bargain, Chinese airlines are short of airfreighting capacities,” observes Dr. Rudolf Tewes, Managing Director of Jade Cargo International based in Shenzhen.

Shenzhen Shenzhen has been the focus of the Lufthansa Group’s activities in China for a number of years. In March 2002, Lufthansa Technik Shenzhen began operating in the Pearl River Delta. Shenzhen Airlines was the first customer to draw on its repair services for high-grade aircraft components. Later in September 2004, Lufthansa Cargo and the Shenzhen airport operator jointly opened the International Cargo Center Shenzhen, ICCS. A month later saw the emergence of the Shenzhen-based Sino-German cargo carrier, Jade Cargo International.

The airfreighting services laid on by Jade Cargo will ideally augment the business activities of Lufthansa Cargo. The joint venture will open up additional air traffic potential within Asia and on transpacific routes out of Asia to North America. Traffic rights restraints prevent Lufthansa Cargo from offering its own services on those routes. A German airline does not, for example, possess landing rights for intra-Asian flight connections.

The very name of the Sino-German carrier has unique connotations: Jade called “yu” in China is highly esteemed by the Chinese. The precious gemstone has been revered as the bearer of luck in the Middle Kingdom for more than 5,000 years – and as the stone of heaven promising prosperity and prestige.