From October 2022, Lufthansa Cargo will offer its customers additional capacities in its medium-haul network on specially converted Airbus A321 freighters. The first cargo flight of its kind took off from Frankfurt to Dublin in March 2022. Due to the positive response from the market and the continuing high demand from the eCommerce and Same-Day segments, a second aircraft of this type will enter scheduled service from October.
The second A321F with registration D-AEUA is currently undergoing conversion in Singapore. The twin-engine, technically advanced narrow-body aircraft is powerful and fuel-efficient at the same time. It is identical in design to the first A321 freighter (D-AEUC, ‘Hello Europe’): A total of 28 tons of payload is available on 14 pallets and container positions on the main deck and ten on the lower deck. Lufthansa Cargo can continue enlarging its footprint by offering the known quality service and product in the fast growing eCommerce segment.
Similar to the first A321F, the second aircraft will also be based at the Frankfurt hub and operated by Lufthansa CityLine under wet lease agreement. Both A321Fs will operate under Lufthansa Cargo flight numbers. As a Group company, Lufthansa CityLine has worked intensively in recent months on the technical and operational preparation of the first two converted aircraft of this type in Germany. The new destinations in the intra-European network include Birmingham (BHX), London (LHR) and Madrid (MAD). The existing destinations Istanbul (IST), Tel Aviv (TLV), Malta (MLA), Tunis (TUN), Dublin (DUB), Manchester (MAN) and Cairo (CAI) will continue to be served, while Istanbul and Tel Aviv will see additional frequencies.
“I am very pleased about the expansion of our A321 freighter network and capacity. Complementing our B777F and belly capacity, we can now offer even shorter transport times within European and to selected medium-haul destinations. To the UK and Ireland, for example, we will offer daily weekday flights to Birmingham and Dublin, enabling our customers to build reliable, scalable and fast supply-chains. It is our goal to build a European Same-Day and eCommerce network and thereby establish Lufthansa Cargo as the leading European cargo airline and service partner in the market. In addition to Lufthansa Cargo’s high quality standards on the ground, the A321 freighter is a very flexible aircraft, which will enable us to build customized networks and solutions for our customers”, says Ashwin Bhat, Lufthansa Cargo’s Chief Commercial Officer.
In light of the dynamic market development and continuing high demand for Same-Day and eCommerce solutions, Lufthansa Cargo continues to focus on growth for its intra-European network. Two additional A321 freighters are expected in the first half of 2023. This means that Lufthansa Cargo will double its A321F capacities in the future and will strive to deploy these aircraft to suit the respective customer needs.
