Exactly ten years ago, Ram Menen, Emirates SkyCargo’s former visionary divisional senior vice president, exclaimed these words: “When I’m older, I want to be like Dieter.” The occasion was the 80th birthday of Dieter Haltmayer, the legendary founder of Quick Cargo Service. Now, precisely a decade on, they met again on the occasion of a double jubilee: Dieter’s 90th birthday and QCS’s 50th anniversary. And just like ten years ago, it was a record-breaking party full of highlights and superlatives.

How should a tribute to a legend of the German and European forwarding world begin? The best way is with a characterization of Dieter Haltmayer by Thorsten Hoelser, Managing Director of the forwarding association in the federal states of Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate (SLV): “When most top managers were sometimes shy to address hot topics for fear of getting burned, Dieter was and still is the one not afraid to be the mouthpiece for air freight forwarders, and he has never been one to mince his words.”

Self-made man and team player
In fact, that’s how the air freight industry knows this distinctive character: always clear, always straightforward, always solution focused. And at the same time constantly charming. The secret of his success: he is a typical self-made man, but also a team player. This combination, coupled with an unerring instinct for the freight forwarding business, has made Quick Cargo one of the leading family-run IATA freight forwarding agencies in Germany and Europe. The stages covered along the way are described and illustrated in Wolfgang Schubert’s recently published and remarkable book: “50 Years of Quick Cargo Service”.*

It all started with a Volkswagen
An orange Volkswagen minivan and thousands of empty suitcases played a key role in the company’s rise. Following the inception of the firm in 1974, QCS bought the VW transporter to carry textile shipments flown in from Hong Kong in overnight trips from Frankfurt to a consignee near Hanover. “In those early days, working 12 or even 14 hours each day was more the rule than the exception,” he recalls. Two years later, the first really big deal followed: the government of Nigeria ordered 450,000 suitcases and the same number of travel bags for pilgrims heading to Mecca. Dieter chartered Boeing 707s and DC-8s to fly the items from Frankfurt to Lagos, this way earning his first 100,000 Deutschmarks. Supported by his young family, the Haltmayers personally handled shipments on the apron by hand and stowed the items into the aircraft. Back then, “security” and “inspections” were foreign words, he reminds of the wild times in cargo. The surplus he mainly reinvested in the company by moving into a bigger office at Frankfurt airport and doubling the staff.

Combining business and fun
Now, 50 years later, Quick Cargo Service has become a brand with offices across Europe. According to business data, the firm is in excellent shape. The family-run company is a well-known and highly respected name in air and ocean freight and active in niche markets like time critical shipments, including OBC services.
One USP must also be mentioned: QCS can party. In this discipline, they are German, if not European, champions among freight forwarders. This was once again the case at the end of NOV24 at the Hilton Hotel Frankfurt-Gravenbruch. 230 invitees showed up and partied into the early hours of the morning to the stirring samba rhythms of a Brazilian dance group and some rock bands. The guests came from practically everywhere, including a business partner from New Zealand, who had the longest journey. Also present: all leading managers of the 30 QCS offices in Germany and Europe, family members, retirees and personal friends. And company patron Dieter? He passed the baton to his son Stephan and his daughters Heidi and Jenny years ago. But that doesn’t stop him from regularly visiting the company headquarters in person to take a look at business developments. The ninety-year-old is a man who can’t let go!

*“50 Years of Quick Cargo Service” is available from Heidi.Haltmayer@quick-cargo-service.de .  It is free of charge.

What is the world’s least known air freight airline operating a fleet of more than 20 cargo aircraft? The answer is probably Leipzig-Halle-based AeroLogic. The cargo carrier is a joint venture of DHL Express and Lufthansa Cargo (each owns 50%). Unlike other cargo companies, Aerologic does not have its own sales department as DHL and Lufthansa Cargo fill its fleet’s main decks with their own shipments.In addition to the appointment of Niedermeyer to Aerologic, the Lufthansa Group announced further personnel decisions last week.

AeroLogic does not need any publicity or headlines to improve its market position. Its owners take care of the freight volumes, filling the jetliner’s main decks, and AeroLogic’s pilots fly the shipments on routes pre-defined by DHL Express and Lufthansa Cargo.

Two directors but no sales manager
A straightforward business model and evidently a very successful one as seen by the constantly growing number of B777F. Aerologic’s fleet currently comprises of 22 Triple-Seven freighters; six of which serve the Lufthansa Cargo network, while the other 16 operate predominantly on behalf of the Leipzig-based Deutsche Post subsidiary.
The dual ownership is also reflected in the composition of the management team, which is made up of two Managing Directors: Former pilot, Josef Moser (DHL) has been a member of the management team since 2007, while Lufthansa executive, Markus Niedermeyer joined the carrier on 01JAN25.

Impressive success story
Before moving to Leipzig, Markus headed the Air Mail Center Frankfurt from 2018 until mid-2024, when Lufthansa Cargo sold its 40% stake to Deutsche Post-DHL. At AeroLogic, Niedermeyer will be responsible for Finance, Human Resources, IT and Administration – a position he has held on an interim basis since he exited the Air Mail Center.
Frank Bauer, CFO of Lufthansa Cargo, commented the personnel decision: “Marcus Niedermeyer’s extensive expertise and commitment will undoubtedly help to drive the company forward and strengthen AeroLogic’s position in the market. As we look back on nearly 18 years of our joint venture, we are extremely proud of our shared accomplishments: safe, reliable and highly efficient flight operations and steady fleet growth for both partners.” Travis Cobb, EVP Global Network Operations and Aviation at DHL Express, added to this: “Aerologic is of great strategic importance to DHL Express. With Marcus Niedermeyer, we welcome back an experienced and accomplished expert to the ranks of Aerologic.”

ITA joins Lufthansa, gets new management
1400 km further south of Leipzig, in Italy’s capital, Rome, another personnel decision was announced by the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF), last week: The authority confirmed the appointments of Joerg Eberhart and Lorenza Maggio to the Board of Directors of ITA Airways. Eberhart (54), a long-term resident in Italy, has been responsible for the strategic development of the Lufthansa Group since 2021, and headed the Italian Lufthansa feeder airline, Air Dolomiti.
Maggio (47) has been Vice President Sales Europe/Middle East/Africa at Lufthansa Group Airlines since JAN24, and is responsible for sales activities in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. She previously headed the brand and customer strategy of Eurowings, and held various management positions within the Lufthansa Group.
In addition to the aforementioned executives, the Supervisory Board of ITA also includes Antonella Ballone, Sandro Pappalardo (President) and Efrem Angelo Valeriani.

CargoForwarder Global’s ‘Spotlight On…’ series inspects a different area of the air cargo industry every week. In the past 5-10 years, the industry has been pushed to change to accommodate the rapidly evolving world market. e-commerce is one of the biggest triggers forcing it to reconsider its commercial and operational processes. A greenfield approach in the shape of a start-up might just be the best way to bridge the gap between traditional air cargo and e-commerce. Such is Denis Ilin’s consideration as he pools his decades of air cargo and recent 4 years of postal services experience, and works on launching an e-commerce-focused start-up: e-Smart Logistics. He takes us through his tasks and endeavors, and offers advice to those looking to enter the air cargo industry.

CFG: What is your current function and company? And what are your responsibilities?
DI: I have recently started a new Dubai-based company, e-Smart Logistics, where I am a managing partner and CEO. As is true for any start-up in its early stage, my hands are full of all kinds of matters – building up a team, talking to potential customers, preparing our product for the launch, as well as wrapping up the investment agreements with my other partners and investors.
e-Smart Logistics (or e-SL) is an e-commerce logistics specialist delivering, in partnership with major air cargo carriers, fully integrated end-to-end logistics solutions to e-tailers and e-shippers. Our services are supported by an IT platform provided by our strategic IT partner, KALE Logistics.
We target to launch in Q2 this year, so it is currently a very dynamic period for both e-SL and myself.

CFG: What does a normal day look like for you?
DI: I would rather say what my normal year looks like. On average, over the last decade, it has been from 110 to 130 flights a year, which is probably not far away from some pilot’s numbers. And, as I can judge by my friends and colleagues, this is not unusual in air cargo. This industry is global, so you are constantly on the road to see your clients, business partners, vendors, checking out your own stations and talking to your team.
Of course, now we all use video calls as a routine, however, this has not eliminated the travel but just added dynamics to our work. More meetings per day and the schedule is much tighter as now you squeeze a video call in between your face-to-face ones or just have one call after another with (at best) a few spare minutes in between.
So, it is quite common to have a video call before your flight, another one upon arrival, then a few normal calls while you are in a taxi, and so on and on and on. Ah, not to forget to sort out your emails either on the flight or in between meetings.
Air cargo and logistics is about movement, so is my (our) lifestyle.

CFG: How long have you been in the air cargo industry, and what brought you to it?
DI: I started in 1995 as Duty Ops Controller in 24/7 flight operations of a cargo airline, right after university. This year is 30 years of my career, of which I spent 26 years in air cargo and logistics.
I graduated as a math student with a degree in Applied Mathematics from the Moscow State University. However, the mid-nineties were quite a challenging period for the Russian science and economy, so to continue my academic career would have meant having barely enough money to live on, thus young people were moving elsewhere. There was an international cargo airline, Volga-Dnepr, based in my hometown of Ulyanovsk, in Central Russia, operating a fleet of giant Antonov and Ilyushin freighters around the world. That was a very dynamic, growing business, interesting international prospects, so I said to myself: why not try it?
Twenty years later, I left Volga-Dnepr Group as President and CEO of Air Bridge Cargo airlines. And I never regretted my decision back in 1995, not for a single day.

CFG: What do you enjoy most about your job?
DI: Probably, its global nature. Visiting different countries, meeting people from different cultures – a privilege which probably not many people in the world have an opportunity to experience in life. Besides, the industry is never the same; one has to adapt to a new reality every day – especially in the charter business. However, scheduled services and contractual logistics are not far away from this in terms of new circumstances and operational challenges.
It is never boring, that’s for sure – both professionally and personally.

CFG: What do you see as the greatest challenges in our industry?
DI: Safety. The growing dynamics of global logistics and external factors bring serious challenges to keep our industry and customers safe and sound. New-era technologies bring huge opportunities. However, when misused, they create serious safety and security concerns.

CFG: What advice would you give to people looking to get into the air cargo industry? Any particular training they should aim for?
DI: Ability to quickly adapt to the new technologies. Not sure how to train people to learn that, however, a company’s agility and openness to accommodate new technological opportunities is becoming its serious competitive advantage. Unfortunately, the air cargo industry sometimes is too stuck in its own old practices. Paperwork, manual processes, lack of transparency of the shipments, etc.
And, by the way, that is what e-Smart Logistics is doing – helping air cargo to talk to its growing e-commerce clients in the modern e-commerce language, rather than using traditional ‘air cargo’ manners. The latter works, but at the price of a low margin to the air carriers.

CFG: If the air cargo industry were a film/book, what would its title be?

DI: It is probably “Passion”: a never-ending love story of a happy life.

Thank you, Denis, for your insights!

If you would like to share your personal air cargo story with our CargoForwarder Global readers, feel free to send your answers to the above questions to cargoforwarderglobal@kopfpilot.at We look forward to shining a spotlight on your job area, views, and experiences.