Lufthansa Security Gets Tough

     Lufthansa's overall security upgrades continue to help add customers to the German flag carrier’s cargo business, while the company says it has big plans for further security upgrades around the company - especially at its Johannesburg South Africa and Munich hubs.
     "I'm sick of all the loss and armed holdups at Johannesburg, and I'm sick of the airport doing nothing to improve the situation," said Harald Zielinski, Lufthansa Cargo’s chief of security and risk prevention in an interview with FlyingTypers.
     He was becoming visibly agitated regarding the situation in South Africa. "We've requested additional security from the airport so many times, and all they do is talk talk talk about how they'll improve the situation there."
     Zielinski, a former Frankfurt police officer and security expert at Lufthansa for 19 years said the airline is presently assessing the situation in South Africa and could alleviate some of the problems there by building more fencing or walls, or even moving some operations to more secure areas of the airport.
     "It will cost a huge amount of money," he said, noting only "a single digit million Euro sum.”
     He said Lufthansa Cargo would add more screening power on all fronts in South Africa as well.
     "Our goal is to have the most secure cargo station in South Africa and to not have any losses there in 2007."
     He wouldn't say what the airline’s cargo loss was in South Africa in 2006.
     Zielinski said if there's anyone that's interested in working for Lufthansa Cargo as a security officer in Joburg, they should give him a call, as he's fixing to hire someone in the next several weeks to help turn the tables there.
     Zielinski said the cargo market in Munich is growing and that Munich will become a sort of security testing hub for Lufthansa Cargo.
     He said the airline is looking for the right security combination, which could entail everything from screening machinery, to sniffer dogs and staff.
     At this point, he couldn't yet say in what constellation.
     He said the company is working with manufacturers, as Lufthansa is also looking for the best new screening machinery technology there is.
     Once Lufthansa finds partners for the new technology, he'll announce the specific companies.

     Zielinski says so far this year Lufthansa is wrestling with the new European Union Regulation 831, which, as of the first of the year, requires on ground logistics providers to produce extra documentation regarding shipments.
     He says right now, 50% of the truck drivers showing up at Lufthansa's main cargo center in Frankfurt don't have all that necessary documentation.
     He says the airline is dealing with that dearth of paperwork with more screening.
     "I'm hearing that nobody at other airlines are requesting that documentation right now," so on that front, he said, Lufthansa is ahead of competitors.
     Lufthansa Cargo is also working on improving its other cargo stations around the world and in the U.S., the airline has just spent a total of $7 million on various airports.
     Zielinski said those improvements would continue in the U.S., and that Lufthansa would spend a "two digit million Euro sum," on more security improvements around the world in 2007.
     "We're going to be the leader in air cargo security, beyond the requirements of the laws, which for us will become a unique selling point.
     “We're going to set the standard," Mr. Zielinski said.
George Frey