LUFTHANSA CARGO, SAS CARGO, SINGAPORE AIRLINES CARGO FORM WOW ALLIANCE

LUFTHANSA CARGO, SAS CARGO, SINGAPORE AIRLINES CARGO FORM WOW ALLIANCE

'    Lufthansa Cargo, SAS Cargo and Singapore Airlines Cargo said will begin offering joint general cargo service through their “WOW” alliance, starting April 1.

   The alliance will offer 360 daily flights to 490 destinations in 103 countries. The alliance carriers’ general cargo products — Lufthansa Cargo’s “td.Pro” and “General Cargo” from Singapore Airlines Cargo and SAS Cargo — can be booked at these airlines’ reservation centers, the alliance said. The general cargo product names used by each carrier will be retained.

   The three carriers laid the foundation for this alliance by signing an accord to cooperate in air freight at Kronberg, near Frankfurt, in April 2000.

   That same year, the three carriers earned more than $3.7 billion from cargo, while transporting 14.7 billion freight-ton-kilometers. Between them, the alliances employ more than 7,000 people.

   The brand name for the alliance, one of the alliance airline executives said, is meant to give customers a clear understanding of the alliance’s goals. “‘WOW’ is exactly the reaction we aim to elicit from our customers in response to our services,” said Dr. Andreas Otto, member of the executive board at Lufthansa Cargo.

   More information on the alliance can be found on the group’s Web site, at http://www.wowtheworld.com.