The freight carrier will welcome a second A321 P2F in October, thus further expanding its pan-European network. The new destinations served by the airline will be Birmingham (BHX), LHR and Madrid. Two additional A321 freighter aircraft will be added to the fleet in the first half of 2023.
According to Lufthansa Cargo, the decision to add a second medium-haul freighter to the fleet was triggered by the encouraging market response and the ongoing high demand from the eCommerce and
Same-Day segments for intra-European air services. The additional passenger-to-freighter converted A321F (Registration: D-AEUA) is currently undergoing conversion in Singapore at ST Engineering
Aerospace. It is identical in design to the first A321 freighter (D-AEUC, 'Hello Europe'), and capable of uplifting 28 tons per flight while offering 14 pallet and container positions on its main
deck, and ten on the lower deck.
Operator is Lufthansa CityLine
Like its predecessor, the second A321 P2F aircraft will also be based at Rhine-Main Airport and operated under a Lufthansa Cargo flight number, but staffed with cockpit personnel from Lufthansa
CityLine. As a Group company, 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 three new destinations as mentioned above will enlarge the network consisting of flights to Istanbul (IST), Tel Aviv (TLV), Malta (MLA), Tunis (TUN), Dublin (DUB), Manchester (MAN), and Cairo
(CAI). All destinations are served daily during weekdays, while frequencies to Istanbul and Tel Aviv will be increased. “Complementing our B777F and belly capacity, we can now offer even
shorter transport times within Europe and to selected medium-haul destinations.” This enables Lufthansa Cargo’s 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,” comments Ashwin Bhat,
Lufthansa Cargo’s Chief Commercial Officer.
In the first half of 2023, Lufthansa Cargo expects two additional A321 freighters, this way doubling the capacity on intra-European routes served by the carrier.
Growing Triple Seven fleet
To offer more and much needed capacity on long-haul routes, the airline had already ordered ten additional Triple Seven freighters in May - three B777Fs and seven B777-8Fs. In addition, existing
leases for two B777Fs were extended until 2031.
While the A321F announcement was aired by the press department of the company, final preparations were made by Boeing in Everett for the takeoff of a B787-9 passenger aircraft. It is the first
"Dreamliner" out of a total order of 20 placed by the Lufthansa Group.
First Dreamliner is coming
Based on the list price of USD 281.6 million, the total amount is USD 5.632 billion. The Dreamliners are to close capacity gaps that have arisen through the delayed delivery of the B777-9 due to
production problems. Company CEO, Carsten Spohr has indicated to the media that Lufthansa has been able to negotiate appropriate compensation for this.
The first passenger jetliner B787-9 arrived in Frankfurt, its new home base, on 30AUG22, at 11:00h, local time. The aircraft was piloted by Barbara Kulenkamp. The former spokeswoman for the
pilots' union VC Cockpit is being considered as fleet manager for the B777/787 sub-fleet of the airline.
Heiner Siegmund
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