New Delhi: Lufthansa Cargo, global market leader in international air freight traffic, will begin its maiden flight with DHL shipments from India, on March 30, 2004. The first Lufthansa Cargo MD 11 freighter to carry DHL shipments touches down at Delhi at 11:35 hours on March 30, 2004 (the start of the summer flight schedule) and departs the same day at 13:05 hours en route to Cologne.

With this additional flight operated by Lufthansa Cargo, which will operate five days a week except Saturdays and Mondays, DHL will not only offer additional guaranteed cargo space to Indian shippers but also expands the number of DHL entry points from India to Europe.

According to Chris Callen, country manager, DHL India, "With the addition of the freighter option, DHL entry points from India into the West have increased, offering greater connectivity. That means not only greater choice and improved delivery reliability, but also later cut-off times for pick ups thanks to improved departure times."

Callen also added, "It also gives us additional capacity to carry heavier shipments as we have guaranteed blocked space on the operator, Lufthansa. Commodities such as spare parts, machinery, samples and equipment can now be delivered even faster because of the reduced transit times."

With the introduction of the new freighter service, shippers in India will have access to late cut-off timings in primary as well as secondary locations such as Tirpur or Coimbatore, where the cut-off timing has been increased from pre-noon to late nights in order to catch connecting flights along with.guaranteed uplift of heavy shipments.even during busy seasons.

Since DHL has added Ahmedabad, Cochin, Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Pune, Callen added, that Indian shippers would have their paper work cleared faster and and immediate clearance of freight shipments locally.