Lufthansa Cargo goes appeal to Dutch court over Puerto Rico flight ban

LUFTHANSA Cargo will appeal a recent judgment upholding a ban against its commercial freighter flights between Puerto Rico and Amsterdam since March 2012 following a year of operating the route.

The cargo carrier failed to adhere to the ban that stipulated it lacked traffic rights on the three to four-times weekly MD-11F service which resulted in a re-routing to its hub in Frankfurt Main and then having freight trucked to Amsterdam.

The ban set out by the Dutch Civil Aviation Authority's (DCAA) investigations revealed that the carrier had loaded cargo of fresh cut flowers in Ecuador and Colombia via a US stopover in Puerto Rico before heading to Amsterdam.

Lufthansa Cargo argues that the EU-US open skies treaty must apply to commercial flights from Puerto Rico to any European destination, allowing it to take cargo to the Netherlands without permit.

But the DCAA said there was transit only through the US rather than import and export of cargo and the crew and flight number changed and aircraft refueled, which was only later confirmed by the carrier.

The German carrier argues that the ruling by the Administrative Court of the Hague is protectionist that favours Dutch carriers of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and Martinair.