LH Cargo Adds Lagos to its Network

Lufthansa Cargo intends serving the Nigerian capital twice weekly beginning in mid-September by deploying an MD-11F. Lagos is the first destination in West Africa that becomes part of the carrier’s global freighter network.

The initial flight on 15 September from Frankfurt to Lagos will be a true premier: Never before has Lufthansa Cargo operated freighter aircraft to any destination in the western parts of Africa, charter missions excluded. The Monday and Thursday conducted flights take from Frankfurt to Lagos and go on to Johannesburg. From there the craft returns via stopover in Nairobi to its home base Rhine-Main.
Why Lagos? Because the Nigerian economy has meanwhile become the largest in Africa with an estimated nominal GDP of €386 bn (2014), thus surpassing South Africa’s predicted €267 bn. In 2013, the real gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 7.4 percent, which was the highest in Sub-Sahara Africa.
Adding value to exports of primary products “could help Nigeria climb up the value chain towards industrialization and provide opportunities to bring the large informal sector progressively into the formal economy, thereby making growth more inclusive and offering a high potential for job creation, increased income and poverty reduction,” writes author Barbara Barungi in the latest edition of the African Economic Outlook.
This positive Nigerian economic development LH Cargo intends to capitalize on. Emphasizes Carsten Wirths, VP Europe & Africa: “Adding Lagos to our freighter network considerably strengthens our involvement in West Africa.”
The region is rich on oil and gas finds. Due to the upcoming flights, urgently required spare parts, components and equipment for oil production facilities can now be transported directly to Nigeria. “A total of 170 tons of capacity will be available each week to Lufthansa Cargo customers on this route,” states the carrier in a press release.
In addition to the freighter, LH Cargo offers the market transport capacity in the holds of their daily Airbus A330 passenger flights from Frankfurt to Lagos, Port Harcourt and Abuja. The aircraft is capable of uplifting around 15 tons of cargo each departure, depending on the number of travelers and their luggage. Other places Lufthansa is currently serving in West Africa are Accra (Ghana), Malabo Equatorial Guinea) and Luanda (Angola).

In the context of Lufthansa Cargo’s “Name the Plane” campaign the airline announces the naming of another freighter. It will be an MD-11F, bearing the name MERHABA, which is Turkish and means  that a new naming of one of their freighters

MD-11
Konichiwa Japan こんにちは日本      D-ALCG


777
Good Day, USA                                               D-ALFA
Jambo Kenya                                                   D-ALFB
Ni Hao, China 你好, 中国                               D-ALFC
Olá Brazil                                                            D-ALFD

“In Nigeria alone, Lufthansa Cargo offers freight capacity on board Lufthansa Passenger Airlines flights to three destinations. Besides Lagos, Lufthansa also flies to Port Harcourt and Abuja with an Airbus A330. Accra (Ghana), Malabo (Equatorial Guinea) and Luanda (Angola) are further destinations in West Africa.

As a result, the country now boasts of having the largest economy in Africa with an estimated nominal GDP of USD 510 billion, surpassing South Africa’s USD 352 billion. The exercise also reveals a more diversified economy than previously thought. Nigeria has maintained its impressive growth over the past decade with a record estimated 7.4% growth of real gross domestic product (GDP) in 2013, up from 6.7% in 2012. This growth rate is higher than the West African sub regional level and far higher than the sub-Saharan Africa level. The performance of the economy continues to be underpinned by favourable improvements in the non-oil sector, with real GDP growth of 5.4%, 8.3% and 7.8% in 2011, 2012 and 2013, respectively. Agriculture – particularly crop production – trade and services continue to be the main drivers of non-oil sector growth. The oil sector growth performance was not as impressive with 3.4%, -2.3% and 5.3% estimated growth rates in 2011, 2012 and 2013, correspondingly. Growth of the oil sector was hampered throughout 2013 by supply disruptions arising from oil theft and pipeline vandalism, and by weak investment in upstream activities with no new oil finds.