Airfreight Insider Daily Briefing – December 11, 2025
Welcome to today’s briefing, where we bring you the key developments shaking the air cargo and aviation logistics industry worldwide.
Airline Leadership Changes and Strategic Moves
February 2026 will see notable leadership shifts within the Lufthansa Group. Max Kownatzki, currently CEO of Sun Express, is set to take over as head of Eurowings, succeeding Jens Bischof after more than five years at the helm. Meanwhile, Marcus Schnabel, formerly responsible for ground handling at Lufthansa, will step into the Sun Express CEO role. These aligned moves reflect a broader strategic reassessment within the group’s leisure aviation segment, aiming for stronger operational integration.
In addition, Lufthansa announced plans for a tighter integration of its cargo subsidiaries, Lufthansa Cargo and Swiss WorldCargo. From next year, commercial and operational divisions will cooperate more closely, though the individual brands will remain intact. This move targets more streamlined cargo services while preserving established market identities.
Airline and Airport Developments
The airline landscape in Germany continues to evolve as Qatar Airways confirms it will significantly reduce capacity to German destinations next summer. Nine weekly frequencies to Berlin, Düsseldorf, and Frankfurt will be cut, with other European routes also facing temporary reductions.
The Netherlands also sees intensified debate around its aviation policies. Pieter Elbers, facing scrutiny over operational chaos at IndiGo in India, has additionally drawn attention to the sharp criticism fired at Dutch aviation policies, with IATA boss Willie Walsh labeling the country’s approach “the worst in all of Europe.”
Meanwhile, LOT Polish Airlines is expanding its network with a new spring 2026 route from Gdansk to Brussels Airport, complementing its existing Warsaw connection and strengthening regional connectivity between Poland and Belgium.
Looking to leisure and passenger experience, Air New Zealand will open a temporary ‘Lookout Lounge’ at Auckland Airport from December 12, catering to peak travel hours with early morning service.
Innovations and Sustainable Trends in Aviation
Technical innovation moves forward with Airbus, Air France, Delta, and other partners testing coordinated formation flights over the Atlantic. Their Fellowfly project aims to enable trailing aircraft to benefit from the leading plane’s wake turbulence, promising fuel savings and emissions reductions on long-haul sectors.
On the sustainability front, China Aircraft Leasing Group (CALC) has partnered with China Resources Recycling Group to advance the recycling and responsible disposal of retired aircraft. This collaboration underlines growing industry efforts to address lifecycle environmental impacts in aviation assets.
Additionally, emerging hybrid-electric aircraft engines introduce new maintenance challenges due to novel wear mechanisms. Insights from Lukas Schuchard, an expert from TU Dresden, highlight how service concepts must evolve alongside electrification trends to maintain safety and efficiency.
Air Cargo Market Highlights
Structural changes continue reshaping the perishables airfreight segment. Airlines and exporters alike increasingly collaborate for seamless, high-frequency fresh produce logistics, with China Eastern Air Logistics exemplifying the push towards dense routing and integrated cold chains.
Meanwhile, November remained an active month for mergers and acquisitions in logistics, with deals spanning freight forwarding, cold storage, special transport, ecommerce fulfilment, and regional express networks. Activity was diverse across Europe, Asia, and the Americas, signaling persistent appetite for scale and specialization in the sector.
Other Noteworthy News
- Bonaire International Airport appointed Giordano Molina as its new Operations Director during their recent shareholders meeting.
- Lufthansa Group unveiled a refreshed logo encompassing Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, and ITA Airways, marking a new chapter in visual branding.
- Lufthansa honored former chief pilot Jürgen Raps with a special Airbus A380 flight from Los Angeles to Munich featuring a distinctive callsign, symbolizing the airline’s respect and legacy.
- Cabin crew union UFO raised concrete salary demands for the new Lufthansa subsidiary City Airlines, challenging the role of competitor Verdi in negotiations.
- In India, Indigo’s chairman Vikram Singh Mehta publicly apologized for early-December operational chaos and announced external experts will assist in a thorough investigation of the disruptions.
This concludes your Daily Briefing from airfreightinsider.com. Join us tomorrow for further insights and our daily video update.