Lufthansa Cargo To Expand Worldwide Network

DALLAS - Lufthansa Cargo (LH), the freight-specialized subsidiary of the European giant Lufthansa Group, is announcing further expansion on its worldwide network, focusing now on increasing freighter connections eastwards to Asia and Northeastern Africa. An imminent short-haul fleet expansion will also happen for the summer schedule in 2023.

The main country to be impacted by this expansion is China, with the addition of more frequencies from Frankfurt (FRA) to Shanghai (PVG), Chengdu (CTU), and Hong Kong (HKG). In total, the German company will offer up to 20 weekly flights between Germany and China at the end of 2023.

Lufthansa Cargo Boeing 777F (D-ALFC). Photo: Phil Wilco/Airways.

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Further connections will be added to Kazakhstan, now again including Almaty (ALA) as an intermediate destination on the daily flight to HKG. Finally, LH announced its plan to continue operating its current network in the Americas, Israel, and Egypt, with flights to Tel Aviv (TLV) and Cairo (CAI) conducted by A321P2F aircraft.

Along with the network expansion, Lufthansa Cargo will add two more Airbus A321P2Fs (Passenger to Freighter) from its passenger fleet. At the moment of writing, LH Cargo operates a fleet of 13 aircraft (11 Boeing 777Fs and two A321P2Fs).

Lufthansa Cargo also manages all the cargo transported on passenger aircraft and routes of all the group, including Lufthansa (LH), Austrian Airlines (OS), Brussels Airlines (SN), Eurowings (EW), and SunExpress (XQ).

The fleet transition from MD-11 to Boeing 777 made by Lufthansa Cargo was very smooth, with almost no impact to its operations. Photo: Julian Schöpfer/Airways.

Transitioning From The MD-11

The airline phased out the last McDonnell Douglas MD-11F in October 2021. This aircraft, first delivered in 1998, has been the essential type in the freighter operations of LH Cargo for 23 years. Now, with 13 twin-engine freighter jets in the fleet, Lufthansa Cargo has completed the transition toward fuel efficiency.

The first of five Boeing 777F arrived was delivered in 2013 and enabled the airline to open longer routes due to its better range and performance. Six additional units arrived between 2019 and 2020, marking the end of the MD-11 era in the cargo company.

Today, with 11 airframes and eight more aircraft in wet lease from other carriers, the Boeing 777F has shown remarkable results for the airline's global operations, which, at the moment of writing, operates an extensive network of 79 weekly connections with the outside world.

https://airwaysmag.com/first-boeing-777f-aeroshark/

Featured image: Nick Sheeder/Airways.