Each partner will hold a 50 percent stake in the carrier, which will be based at Leipzig-Halle Airport. The carrier will operate Boeing 777-200LRFs and is scheduled to begin operations next year.

The AeroLogic logo will be emblazoned in grey and yellow on the fuselage of the Boeing 777-200LRFs with which the new airline plans to launch operations next year.

Chief executive officer of DHL Aviation Charles Graham expressed great satisfaction with the speed in which the airline was developed and prepared for launch.

Carsten Spohr, CEO and chairman of Lufthansa Cargo, said AeroLogic was the culmination of a successful partnership that has existed for several years between DHL Express and Lufthansa Cargo.

Both managers were confident that the new venture would benefit from the continued growth in transcontinental traffic.

Alongside building up the fleet and route network, AeroLogic has recruited a new management team to strengthen the airline. The team is headed up by joint MD Thomas Papke (formerly Lufthansa Cargo) and Thomas Pusch (formerly DHL Express) and consists of Josef Moser as director of flight operations, Wolfgang John as director of human resources, Christian Schmucker as director of maintenance and Boris Hueske as director of finance.

But it may not be such a smooth ride to take off. Pusch said AeroLogic was searching for 200 pilots at a time when a shortage of box office crew is hitting airlines hard. The Shenzhen-based LH Cargo venture, Jade Cargo, has struggled to find flight crew for its 747s, delaying the launch of new long-haul freighter services.