Air Cargo Germany GmbH (abbreviated ACG) was a German

cargo airline Cargo airlines (or air freight carriers, and derivatives of these names) are airlines mainly dedicated to the transport of air cargo, cargo by air. Some cargo airlines are divisions or subsidiaries of larger passenger airlines. In 2018, airline ...

. Based at Frankfurt-Hahn Airport, it was operational between 2009 and 2013.

History

In an attempt to challenge the pre-eminence of

Lufthansa Cargo Lufthansa Cargo AG is a German cargo airline and a wholly owned subsidiary of Lufthansa. It operates worldwide air freight and logistics services and is headquartered at Frankfurt Airport, the main hub of Lufthansa. Besides operating dedicated ...

on the German air freight market, Air Cargo Germany was founded in 2008 by former LTU executives Michael Bock and Thomas Homering. The company with its headquarters at

Frankfurt–Hahn Airport Frankfurt–Hahn Airport (german: link=no, Flughafen Frankfurt-Hahn, ) is an international airport in the municipality of Hahn, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The airport is from the town of Kirchberg and from both Simmern and Traben-Trarb ...

had its airline licence issued on 14 July 2009. From the beginning, ACG had strong ties to Russian entrepreneurs, as much of the initial funding was provided by Rashid Mursekaev, a co-founder of

VIM Airlines VIM Airlines (legally ''VIM Avia'') was a Russian charter airline headquartered in Moscow based at Domodedovo International Airport. It offered international scheduled and charter operations for both passengers and cargo as well as wet lease ser ...

, and the business administration comprised a number of former Aeroflot-Cargo managers. Later, a co-operation with

Volga-Dnepr Airlines Volga-Dnepr Airlines, LLC (russian: ООО «Авиакомпания «Волга-Днепр») is an airline based in Ulyanovsk, Russia. It specializes in providing air charter services by operating a unique fleet of twelve Antonov An-124 (lar ...

and its subsidiary

AirBridgeCargo Airlines AirBridgeCargo Airlines, LLC (Russian: ООО Авиакомпания «ЭйрБриджКарго»), part of Volga-Dnepr Group, is the largest Russian cargo airline with its head office in Moscow. It operates scheduled cargo services on route ...

was set up, which saw Volga-Dnepr acquiring a 49 percent stake in Air Cargo Germany in April 2012, the maximum allowed under EU rules for

foreign ownership Foreign ownership refers to the ownership of a portion of a country's assets (businesses, natural resources, property, bonds, equity etc.) by individuals who are not citizens of that country or by companies whose headquarters are not in that countr ...

. To offer a joint network of some kind, ACG moved a number of its flights to

Frankfurt Airport Frankfurt Airport (; german: link=no, Flughafen Frankfurt Main , also known as ''Rhein-Main-Flughafen'') is a major international airport located in Frankfurt, the fifth-largest city of Germany and one of the world's leading financial centres ...

, which was already served by AirBridgeCargo, and began to focus its operations on Moscow-Sheremetyevo Airport. According to EU regulations, airlines are required to provide evidence that they have sufficient financial resources for the next 12-month period. As Air Cargo Germany failed to do so at a

Luftfahrt-Bundesamt The ''Luftfahrt-Bundesamt'' (LBA, "Federal Aviation Office") is the national civil aviation authority of Germany headquartered in Braunschweig. In 2009, Air Cargo Germany had been granted loans by the German state of

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...

and the operating company of Frankfurt-Hahn Airport (of which 82.5 percent are owned by Rhineland-Palatinate, too), accumulating to a total of €10 million. With ACG going bankrupt, this taxpayers' money is considered a default. Plans for a relaunch did not materialize. As the legal maximum of ACG's shares (49 percent) were already owned by Russian (that is, non-EU) companies, the only possibility to acquire the needed

equity funding Equity Funding Corporation of America was a Los Angeles-based U.S. financial conglomerate that marketed a package of mutual funds and life insurance to private individuals in the 1960s and 70s. It collapsed in scandal in 1973 after former employee R ...

would have been to find an investor from an EU member state. According to analysts, the initial suspension of its operations had led to Air Cargo Germany losing most of its freight transport contracts, which was further hampering any efforts to regain the necessary market trust. On 4 September 2013, it was reported that all 120 employees had been dismissed, bringing an end to the history of Air Cargo Germany.

Destinations

Air Cargo Germany Boeing 747-400F Breidenstein-1

In August 2012, Air Cargo Germany operated scheduled flights to the following destinations:

Fleet

Air Cargo Germany operated four cargo configured Boeing 747-400 aircraft. Of these, two were owned by

Aircastle Aircastle Limited is an aircraft leasing company that acquires, leases and sells commercial jet aircraft to airlines around the world. It has its headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut, with offices in Dublin and Singapore. Aircastle was incorpora ...

and were subleased to ACG by

Martinair Martinair (legally ''Martinair Holland N.V.'') is a Dutch cargo airline headquartered and based at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and a subsidiary of Air France–KLM. The airline was founded in 1958 by Martin Schröder. Since 2011, Martinair has o ...

, and two were leased by Avion Aircraft Trading.

References

External links

{{Airlines of Germany Defunct airlines of Germany Airlines established in 2008 Airlines disestablished in 2013 German companies established in 2008 German companies disestablished in 2013