Starting in 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 left from Frankfurt to Dublin in March 2022, signaling a positive response from the market. Furthermore, because of the high demand from the eCommerce and Same-Day segments, a second aircraft of this type will enter service from October onwards.
Currently, the second A321F with registration D-AEUA is undergoing the conversion in Singapore. The technically advanced narrow-body and twin-engine aircraft is both powerful and fuel-efficient, which is identical in design to the first A321 Freighter D-AEUC (Hello Europe). Both aircraft can hold a total payload of 28 tons on 14 pallets and container positions on the main deck, and 10 on the lower deck.
Like the first aircraft, both will be based in the Frankfurt hub, and they will be operated by Lufthansa CityLine under a wet-lease agreement. Furthermore, both A321Fs will operate under the Lufthansa Cargo flight numbers. The new destination routes in the intra-European network include Birmingham (BHX), London (LHR) and Madrid (MAD). While existing destinations such as Istanbul (IST), Tel Aviv (TLV), Malta (MLA), Tunis (TUN), Dublin (DUB), Manchester (MAN), and Cairo (CAI) will continue to be served, with Istanbul and Tel Aviv receiving 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 Europe 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,” said Mr Ashwin Bhat, Lufthansa Cargo’s Chief Commercial Officer.
Due to the dynamic shift in market development and the high demand for Same-day and eCommerce solutions, Lufthansa is committed to focusing on the growth for its intra-European network. With the additional two A321 freighters expected in the first half of 2023, Lufthansa Cargo will double its A321F capacities in the future, and will strive to deploy these aircraft to best suit the needs of the respective customer.
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