Lufthansa Cargo’s first commercial Airbus A321 Freighter flight took off from Frankfurt today at 16:21 (CET), with flight LH8350 heading to Dublin before continuing on to Manchester. The aircraft, Christened ‘Hello Europe’, was loaded with express freight and general cargo.
On Tuesday (March 15, 2022), Lufthansa Cargo announced the maiden flight of their Airbus A321 Freighter, ‘Hello Europe’ registration D-AEUC. The aircraft departed Frankfurt (FRA) as flight LH8350 at 16:21 (CET) today enroute to Dublin (DUB), with continuing service to Manchester (MAN). The twin-engine aircraft is operated by Lufthansa CityLine, and today’s flight was loaded with express freight and general cargo. With the start of A321 Freighter service, Lufthansa Cargo will gradually add service to Istanbul (IST), Tel Aviv (TLV), Malta (MLA) and Tunis (TUN) and Cairo (CAI) in addition to Dublin (DUB) and Manchester (MAN). The partially new stations in the freighter network will be served two to three times weekly from Frankfurt.
In Tuesday’s announcment, Lufthansa Cargo’s Chairperson of the Executive Board and CEO, Dorothea von Boxberg, said,
“The addition of the medium-haul network is an important step in further opening our company to attractive business segments such as the fast-growing e-commerce sector. Lufthansa Cargo can now offer its customers same-day and e-commerce solutions within Europe and to selected medium-haul destinations. The new aircraft will serve a wide range of customers and routes, both scheduled and charter. We look forward to providing much-needed capacity in the European market and further strengthening our position as the leading airfreight carrier in Europe.”
Also commenting on the inaugural flight, Lufthansa CityLine’s Managing Director, Jens Fehlinger, added,
“We have put Cargo Operations at Lufthansa CityLine on its feet in a very short time. Together with Lufthansa Cargo, we are very proud to launch this first converted A321F certified in Germany.”
Currently, Lufthansa Cargo operates a fleet of 15 dedicated Boeing 777 Freighters. The company’s second A321F medium-haul freighter is expected to enter service in late summer 2022. Both aircraft will be operated under a wet-lease agreement by Lufthansa CityLine under Lufthansa Cargo flight numbers. The Airbus A321s are passenger-to-freight (P2F) conversions, and offer a payload of 28 metric tons with a range of 3,500 kilometers. With the conversion, the aircraft can use standardized cargo pallets on the main deck as well.
With revenue of €3.8 billion and 7.2 billion freight ton kilometers in 2021, Lufthansa Cargo is one of the world’s leading air freight companies, employing approximately 4,200 team members worldwide. The cargo carrier serves around 300 destinations in over 100 countries with a dedicated fleet of freighters, as well as belly-hold cargo capacity of passenger aircraft operated by Lufthansa German Airlines, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Eurowings Discover and SunExpress. Lufthansa Cargo also operates an extensive road feeder service network. Lufthansa Cargo is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Deutsche Lufthansa AG and is the Group’s logistics specialist.
Source: Lufthansa Cargo/Mynewsdesk