## 4 Case Study Results
### The Core Elements of AeroLogic's Business Model
#### 4.4.3 AeroLogic's Route Network
International destinations included: Bahrain and Sharjah in the Middle East and Almaty, and Delhi, Hong Kong, Seoul (Incheon International Airport), Shanghai (Pudong International Airport), and Singapore in the Far East [157]. In December 2010, AeroLogic added a third route to the Middle East. In addition to services to Bahrain and Sharjah, AeroLogic commenced services to Dubai as part of its Europe to Asia route plan. Further, in order to serve DHL Express' transatlantic next day delivery network, AeroLogic added weekday flights to DHL's main North America air hub in Cincinnati from Frankfurt. The flights were timed to feed directly into DHL's North American overnight express network and thereby assure overnight delivery capacity to the company's U.S. to Germany customers. In addition, AeroLogic also added a weekend direct flight from Leipzig to Cincinnati [158]. The airline's strategic intent was to expand their route network gradually, eventually operating direct services and connections to most of Asia's major metropolitan areas by 2011. In fact, following the delivery of the final four Boeing B777-200 LRF freighter aircraft in 2010, the airline achieved its originally-planned network size and reach [157]. In March 2011, the Aerologic joint venture further enhanced connections between Frankfurt and the American south with the introduction of a weekly direct flight (Saturday) between Frankfurt and Houston. The northern Pakistan city of Lahore was also added to the Aerologic route network in March 2011 with the introduction of a weekly flight operating on Sundays from Frankfurt to Lahore and returning the following day [159]. AeroLogic commenced five weekly services to Bangalore, India on 11 October 2011, with the flights operating from Singapore and Bangkok to Bangalore and onto Leipzig [160]. On 19 April 2012, AeroLogic continued its network expansion when it commenced twice weekly direct services (Thursday/Sunday) on a new route for DHL from Bergamo Airport in Italy to Hong Kong [161]. In early 2014, Aerologic introduced new services to Dhaka, Bangaldesh and New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport on behalf of Lufthansa Cargo. In July 2014, the airline continued its route expansion with the introduction of new services from Frankfurt to Chennai Airport in India [162]. AeroLogic launched a new weekly service linking Frankfurt with the Turkmenistan capital Ashgabat and Hong Kong on the 29 March 2015 [163]. AeroLogic's route network expansion continued in 2016 with the introduction of a new weekly Frankfurt to Seattle service. This service was introduced in the summer schedule (effective 27 March) and operates from Frankfurt to Seattle then to Los Angeles. The flight returns from Los Angeles to Frankfurt [164]. Airline networks exhibit temporal attributes which means that the configuration of the network changes over time [165]. The AeroLogic route network has evolved over time with the addition of new cities being added to support the JV partners' requirements. AeroLogic's route network now currently comprises 20 destinations in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and North America (Figure 4). As shown in Figure 3, originally AeroLogic provided services to Atlanta, Delhi, and Sharjah, however, these destinations are no longer being served by the airline. Additionally, the services introduced to New York's John F, Kennedy International Airport and Dhaka International Airport in 2014 are no longer operated by AeroLogic. As noted earlier, during the week, Aerologic primarily operates services to Asia within the express network of DHL Express and, on the weekend, provides services for Lufthansa Cargo, respectively [123]. Combination airline passenger flights, particularly those operated by wide-bodied aircraft such as the Airbus A350-900 XWB or the Boeing B77-300 ER, can now offer around 25 tonnes of payload for cargo shipments. For a large full-service network carrier (FSNC) these have the advantage of frequent services to an extensive number of destinations [4; 87].