German mail and logistics group Deutsche Post and Deutsche Lufthansa's air freight division plan to create a joint cargo carrier, Germany's competition regulator, the cartel office, said on Friday.

The companies have applied for approval to set up a "joint airline for cargo flights", according to the authorities.

A spokesman for Post's DHL express delivery division told Reuters on Friday it planned to expand its cooperation with Lufthansa, without giving further details.

A Lufthansa spokesman said details would be announced shortly, without being more specific.

Lufthansa Cargo and DHL Express have operated a network together between Europe, Asia and the U.S. since March 2004, a large part of which is due later this year to start operating out of Leipzig/Halle airport, where DHL Express is moving its main European hub.

A source familiar with the situation told Reuters already in June that DHL and Lufthansa Cargo planned to set up a joint freight airline with a fleet of cargo planes from 2009, with the base in Leipzig/Halle, in eastern Germany.