American Airlines expands European trucking as global Q2 revenues soar

American Airlines Cargo has expanded and extended its European trucking network this summer.

News of the European road feeder boost came as the US carrier announced its second quarter 2017 group results, which saw cargo revenue across the global network up by 13.1% to $196m, due to a 15.1% increase in cargo ton miles.

With multiple truck options per night, operating with flight numbers, American can link together key European cities.

The Netherlands, Germany and France all feed nightly freight into the airline's London Heathrow (LHR) operation, which operates 20 flights per day direct to the US. Almost 2,000 tonnes per month is now fed into the online destinations for carriage on the company's aircraft.

"Operating trucking services from across Europe into London enables us to reach cargo markets that we wouldn’t otherwise be able to serve," said Andy Cornwell, regional manager, American Airlines cargo sales — northern Europe.

"It has enabled us to become a major player in a number of markets where we don't have direct lift. By offering overnight trucks, we now can serve customers in countries like Denmark, Hungary and beyond."

New trucking services from Lyon, Toulouse, Bordeaux and Marseilles, France, along with Frankfurt, Germany, have also been set up to serve American's seasonal flights from Barcelona (BCN) to Chicago (ORD).

"Our French team could see that we had an opportunity to maximize capacity from Spain by launching dedicated trucking services to connect with our flights,” said Kathleen Lesage, regional manager, American Airlines cargo sales – western Europe.

“And, with those southern cities being much closer in miles to Spain than Paris, it made perfect sense."