## 4 Case Study Results
### The Strategic Benefits for the Two Partners from the AeroLogic Joint Venture  
As noted in Section 2, joint ventures are formed for a variety of strategic reasons (Table 4). Table 4 summarises the strategic benefits that the AeroLogic joint venture partnership has provided to the JV partners to date. Prior to the formation of the AeroLogic joint venture cargo airline, the two partners shared air cargo capacities on Lufthansa Cargo fleet of Boeing MD11 freighter aircraft. As can be observed in Table 4, the new airline is now providing greater strategic benefits for both partners. These include the joint sharing of risk, synergistic benefits, a highly efficient production platform, high daily aircraft utilisation, and the joint sharing of technical expertise and core competencies. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{p{142.3 pt} p{142.3 pt}} \hline \hline
**Joint Venture Benefit** & **AeroLogic Joint Venture** \\ \hline \multirow{3}{*}{Sharing of risk} & Both DHL Express and Lufthansa Cargo AG are sharing the risk of operating dedicated \\  & freighter aircraft. These aircraft are achieving a high utilisation by operating weekday \\  & flights for DHL and weekend flights for Lufthansa Cargo \\ \hline \multirow{3}{*}{Synergistic benefits} & Strategic and operational synergies are evident in the joint venture, for example, the optimization of aircraft utilization through the joint operations (DHL Express on weekdays and Lufthansa Cargo on weekends) \\ \cline{2-3}  & The AeroLogic joint venture is delivering cost-savings to the partners. As a result of the business model that has been implemented, the administrative burden has been significantly reduced providing AeroLogic with a lower cost base as compared to other dedicated all-cargo carriersFrom the Lufthansa Cargo perspective, the AeroLogic operation has enabled the airline to lower its operating costs, with the associated benefits being passed on to their customers \\ \hline \multirow{2}{*}{Accessing new markets} & The lean company has enabled the partners to access new markets and also to serve \\  & existing markets \\ \hline \multirow{3}{*}{Participate in the industry’s evolution} & Both DHL Express and Lufthansa Cargo have been able to participate in the fast growing \\  & express cargo market segment \\ \hline \multirow{3}{*}{Enhancing the competitive position in a market} & Prior to the JV, DHL Express was at a competitive disadvantage to its main competitors \\  & FedEx and United Parcel Service (UPS) in that it did not have its own long-haul \\ \cline{1-1}  & intercontinental freighter network. Cooperation with Lufthansa Cargo has repaired that \\ \cline{1-1}  & deficiency, and has also provided DHL with the opportunity to utilize unused capacity \\ \cline{1-1}  & on long-haul flights for the carriage of conventional air cargo, a practice that the major \\ \hline \multirow{3}{*}{Capturing competitive advantage} & AeroLogic enjoys competitive advantages in that it only caries cargo on behalf of its partners, \\ \cline{1-1}  & has a low cost base, operates a modern and efficient fleet of Boeing B77-200 LRF aircraft \\ \hline \multirow{3}{*}{Access new markets} & For Lufthansa Cargo the JV provides a more direct means to participate in the \\ \cline{1-1}  & high-yielding air express market sector, while also being able to grow its long-haul \\ \cline{1-1}  & intercontinental network for the carriage of conventional air cargo \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 4: The AeroLogic joint venture benefits. As noted earlier, joint ventures are increasingly being viewed as an ideal strategic option to better compete in the global air cargo industry. Examples of these JVs include the ANA and Lufthansa JV on Japan-Europe routes, and the United Airlines and Lufthansa JV on Europe-USA routes. These JVs have principally focused on the joint sales of air cargo products and services, and optimizing the route networks of the joint venture partners.