Lufthansa Cargo will expand its long-haul route network during the coming northern winter, the company said in a statement yesterday. As early as the end of August, it will add and market additional capacity following the aquisition of a new Boeing 777F. The expansion of its fleet will allow the company to implement the flight schedule for next autumn and winter as of 30 October 30th.
According to the German airline’s cargo division, the schedule will include 78 weekly services by 777F aircraft from its home base at Frankfurt am Main (FRA). Lufthansa Cargo will add additional frequencies to North America and Asia.
During the coming northern winter, the airline will operate six weekly cargo flights between Frankfurt and Mexico City (MEX), one more than currently available. It will also add an additional frequency to Chicago-O’Hare (ORD), which will receive eight flights each week. The carrier will maintain its current schedule to South America, Tel Aviv (TLV) and Cairo (CAI).
In addition, Lufthansa Cargo will offer 38 weekly connections between Germany and Asia. The airline will inaugurate cargo flights to Hanoi (HAN). From November, it will have two weekly frequencies via Bombay (BOM). It currently flies twice a week to Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) via Bangkok (BKK), so the company’s presence in Vietnam will be doubled.
In addition, it will add a weekly frequency to Seoul (ICN) via Kansai (KIX) from the current three connections to four during the autumn and winter. Finally, operations to Hong Kong (HKG) will increase from four to five flights per week.
«We are observing strong demand for our product to North America as well as to economically strong Asia», said Ashwin Bhat, CCO of Lufthansa Cargo. «Vietnam in particular is a clear growth market and I am very pleased that we are establishing a new station there and can thus offer our customers an attractive range of quality cargo transport services to this region», he said.
Currently, Lufthansa Cargo has eleven Boeing 777F in operation. The aircraft have 27 cargo positions, for a maximum of 19.3 cubic metres each, on the main deck. They also have a further ten cargo positions for a maximum of 11.8 cubic metres on the lower deck. The model offers a payload capacity of up to 103 tonnes and a range of up to 9.054 kilometres.
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