Qantas Freight recently announced it had begun offering courier and baggage delivery services to Qantas and third party customers under the new brand name Qantas Courier. Executive Manager Qantas Freight, Mr Stephen Cleary, said Qantas Courier had been established to reposition the Australian and New Zealand operations following the sale of Qantas' investment in DPEX Worldwide. "Qantas Courier will complement the Group's existing domestic logistics ventures by utilising the network of the Qantas Group and third party suppliers, including Australian air Express and Star Track Express, to offer courier and baggage services," he said. "Central to our business model is the development of an online retail distribution channel offering sophisticated book, pay and track functionality." Mr Cleary said Qantas would remain the biggest customer of the business, and cost savings were expected through aggregation of the Group's logistics and supply chain requirements under a single entity. "We see great potential to improve the existing business for the benefit of Qantas and other customers by introducing a new business model, raising customer service standards and increasing operational reliability," said Mr Cleary. "We have already made some changes to the business' management team and taken steps to develop its infrastructure, including investment in information technology and a new, fuel efficient fleet of delivery vehicles." Qantas Courier employs around 150 people and has offices and retail counters conveniently located near international airports in Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth and Auckland. The business also has a retail presence at Sydney and Brisbane international airports through its Unaccompanied Baggage counters.(qantas/mar)