Air France KLM Martinair Cargo and China Southern Airlines Cargo have signed a memorandum of understanding to further strengthen their strategic cooperation.

“We continuously want to create more value to our customers, and in doing so we are very excited to deepen the cooperation with our strategic partner China Southern Cargo,” said Marcel de Nooijer [right in photo], executive vice president of Air France KLM Martinair Cargo. “This new phase is good news for our customers.”

According to the two carriers, their ambition for the next four years is to jointly investigate and exploit the available opportunities in the air cargo market. The cooperation will connect China Southern’s network in China and the Asia-Pacific region with Air France KLM’s network in Europe, Africa and the trans-Atlantic markets, possibly through capacity sharing and space agreements.

The agreement covers the two carrier’s belly and maindeck services from their respective hubs in Guangzhou, Shanghai, Paris and Amsterdam, where they will explore using each other’s ground-handling facilities to support quick interline transfers. Air France KLM Martinair Cargo and China Southern Cargo also plan to increase mail and express opportunities between China, Europe and the US.

“The signing of this MoU leads to a new phase of cooperation between us,” said Zhao Fengsheng [left in photo], senior vice president of China Southern Cargo. “We anticipate concrete results coming out of this.”

The enhanced cooperation could eventually lead to an integrated commercial and operational cargo joint venture between Europe and China, according to the two carriers.

Air France KLM Martinair Cargo and China Southern Cargo first signed an MoU on strategic cooperation in September 2015.