Korean Air and Vienna Airport have signed an agreement to expand their partnership to explore ways to increase air cargo traffic between Vienna and Incheon airports.

The two firms state that the objective is to jointly meet the growing demand for air cargo services between Korea and Vienna Airport which is regarded as an important cargo hub for Central and Eastern Europe.

Korean Air and Vienna Airport plan to develop initiatives targeting freight forwarders and customers as well as an exchange of industry expertise as the basis for offering optimal services.

Thanks to its geographically favourable position in Europe, Vienna Airport has established itself as a global business interface for air cargo for neighbouring countries such as the Slovak Republic, Hungary, and the Czech Republic, and has long served as a link connecting Eastern Europe and Western Europe.

Due to increasing investments in the region on the part of Korean companies, Korean Air (which has been regularly operating cargo flights to Vienna since 2004) is expecting a growth in demand for air cargo in the coming years.

Jaedong Eom, senior vice president and head of the cargo business division at Korean Air, said: “We are pleased to announce our collaboration with Vienna Airport.

“Korean Air is fully committed to improving air transport services through this agreement and ensuring the highest possible customer satisfaction between Korea and Vienna.”

Julian Jäger, joint chief executive and chief operating officer of Flughafen Wien AG, said: “The neighboring countries of Austria and Asia have been economic regions that have been closely linked through international air cargo traffic for many years.

“Especially in the automotive and electronics sectors, Asian companies rely on the manufacturing capacities in the Eastern European region.

“Korean Air has been an important air cargo partner for 20 years and I am pleased that we can now further expand our long-standing partnership in the cargo sector with this agreement.”

Michal Zach, head of ground Handling services at Flughafen Wien AG, said: “Korean Air has already been leveraging Vienna Airport for two decades to provide rapid and reliable access to Central and Eastern European markets.

“Within the context of the new agreement to further expand our cooperation, we will jointly develop our air transport services along the route between Vienna and Incheon Airport in South Korea to optimally meet the increasing demand.”

Vienna serves as a cargo hub for goods to and from Asia, for example for customers involved in automobile production in Central and Eastern Europe as well as for electronic and pharmaceutical goods.

Thanks to a well-developed logistics infrastructure and spacious handling capacities, Vienna Airport offers quick transshipment times via the European motorway network, enabling goods to reach more than 20 countries by truck within 36 hours.

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