'Cargo Climate Care Awards' for staff, customers and up-and-coming researchers Lufthansa Cargo presented its first-ever 'Cargo Climate Care Awards' in Frankfurt.

During the company's first Environmental Conference, Lufthansa Cargo awarded prizes for outstanding endeavor and commitment to customers and staff as well as students and up-and-coming scientists.

'The Cargo Climate Care Awards reflect our growing commitment towards environmental sustainability and climate protection. We are already striving to continuously optimize processes and reduce fuel consumption in our day-to-day operations. With the Cargo Climate Care Awards, we hope to drive our industry forward in the field of climate protection and provide new impetus and fresh ideas with regard to lowering emissions,' said Carsten Spohr, Chairman of the Lufthansa Cargo Executive Board. 'Even in difficult economic times, Lufthansa Cargo does not just pay lip service to environmental care and climate protection. This is part of the corporate culture that our employees live and breathe.'

The prizes, which are worth a total of 16,500 euros, were awarded in three categories. TNT Express Asia won the 2009 Cargo Climate Care Award in the 'Customers' category. TNT Express has set itself the target of becoming the first 'zero-emission' express courier company. In the process, the company is implementing numerous activities in all its business areas. With its 'Planet Me' initiative and the corresponding website, TNT has developed a comprehensive approach to reducing its CO2 emissions.

The second category ' 'Employees' ' recognizes Lufthansa Cargo staff who have demonstrated exemplary commitment in the sphere of environmental protection. Muthu Balasubramanian from Bahrain received an award for his idea of reusing packaging material in order to help save resources and save costs.

Two prizes were awarded in the category 'Young Researchers and Scientists'. The prize for 'Logistics' went to Andrea Wylegala and Guillaume Schaack, who are studying at the International University of Applied Sciences Bad Honnef/Bonn, for their idea for simplifying ground handling processes. Central to their concept is an automatic transport system for airfreight pallets and containers. The award for 'Aircraft Technology' was won by Jan Binnebesel and Till Marquardt of the Hamburg-Harburg Technical University.

The jury was made up of Professor Dr. Hans-Christian Pfohl, Darmstadt Technical

University; Bj'rn Helmke, Editor-in-Chief, Deutsche Logistik-Zeitung; Karl-Heinz K'pfle,

Member of the Lufthansa Cargo Executive Board responsible for Operations; Dan March,

Editor-in-Chief, Air Cargo News, and Ralf Wunderlich, Environmental Commissioner, Lufthansa Technik.

In recent years, Lufthansa Cargo has developed a wide range of activities in an effort to reduce emissions. The company's overall aim is to lower its specific CO2 emissions in airfreight transport by 25% by the year 2020.