Lufthansa Cargo, a German global cargo airline, plans to expand its presence in Korea and China, forecasting that more than 50 percent of its business will be made in Asia soon.

“Forty-seven percent of our business is in Asia and growing,” chairman and CEO of Lufthansa Cargo Karl Ulrich Garnadt told The Korea Herald on Saturday. “Very soon it will be 50 percent. China is the most important market at 20 percent out of the total 100 percent.

“We will see air cargo traffic grow by 4.5 percent (worldwide) in the next decade,” he said. “For developed economies who depend on exports and imports, air cargo is indispensable. Here in Korea, it’s even more significant.”

Opportunities for 2012 are numerous for air cargo and Korea is forecasting growth of 3.8 percent due to new hi-tech products to be introduced, exports from the Korean automotive and pharmaceutical industries, free trade agreements and the London Olympics.

There are also risks in the air cargo industry for this year with the gloomy outlook of the eurozone and the U.S. economy, an increasing shift from air to sea shipping to reduce costs, and political issues in Asia.

No matter the risks, Garnadt plans to do more to increase its presence in Korea by increasing its capacity by the summer.

From Germany to Korea, Lufthansa had 23 percent growth last year and became the top non-Asian carrier in the country occupying the fifth spot after Korean Air, Asiana, Cathay Pacific and All Nippon Airways respectively.

But the situation was reversed for Korean exports.

Korea’s air cargo market declined considerably in 2011, especially to Europe, according to the International Air Transport Association.

“Volumes from Korea to the world went down last year 14 percent,” he said.

The reason Garnadt said was due to Korea’s dependency on electronic exports.

“When there is a new generation of television sets to export for example, then there is a huge volume in air cargo, but when the product cycle is finished, to save costs, they turn to ocean shipping.”

The chairman visited Korea last week to showcase to German journalists the “dynamism” in Korea. “We wanted to show them what is happening in other countries to widen their perspective and the significance of air cargo for trade (for Germany),” he said.

Garnadt took over the reigns of Lufthansa Cargo early last year after a tumultuous year for air cargo out of Europe.

“We recovered the ground we had lost in 2009. In 2010, Lufthansa had the pilot strike, a rough winter which brought volumes down and we had the volcanic ash crisis which grounded the fleet for one week,” he said.

But in the first five months of 2011, Lufthansa Cargo bounced back due to a boom of air cargo to and from Germany, where they outperformed the industry during that period.

“That was because we have a strong representation in Germany so we were able to provide German industry with a lift and we benefited big time from that,” he said.

Then the global economy cooled from August 2011, and Lufthansa Cargo recorded declines.

“We are more or less, getting back to normal,” he said, with Asia being the driving force for the airline.

By Yoav Cerralbo (yoav@heraldcorp.com)