Lufthansa Cargo officially announced the arrival of its latest addition to the fleet – an Airbus A321P2F registered as D-AEUJ and christened ‘¡Hola España!’. This new aircraft marks the fourth member of the company’s short- and medium-haul fleet and has already commenced operations.
D-AEUJ made its debut in November, servicing various destinations including Madrid, Copenhagen, Birmingham, Helsinki, Stockholm, Casablanca, and Istanbul. The aircraft received an especially warm welcome from the colleagues in Madrid, a fitting tribute to its name which translates to ‘Hello Spain!’.
This aircraft was initially operated by Air Berlin under the registration D-ABCK since May 2, 2012, it later served Niki (registered as OE-LCK) and subsequently Laudamotion, highlighting its storied past in European aviation. After a period of storage, D-AEUJ was transformed from a passenger aircraft to a freighter, known as the A321P2F (Passenger to Freighter), a significant shift in its operational role. This transformation took place in San Antonio, USA, where it underwent several months of conversion.
The A321P2F boasts an impressive capacity, with 14 pallet and container positions on the main deck and 10 on the lower deck. It offers a total payload of 28 tons and has a range of 3,500 kilometers, making it a formidable asset in Lufthansa CityLine’s cargo operations. The delivery of D-AEUJ was a globe-spanning endeavor, involving a transfer flight that passed through Dothan, Boston, Reykjavik, and Munich, where Lufthansa CityLine readied it for service.
Joining its siblings – ‘Dia dhuit Ireland’, ‘Merhaba Türkiye’, and ‘Hello Europe’ – D-AEUJ is poised to enhance Lufthansa Cargo’s e-commerce services within its short and medium-haul network. The introduction of this freighter enables the airline to tailor flight offers more specifically to customer needs, reinforcing its commitment to adaptability and service excellence. The expansion of the A321P2F network now includes new destinations such as Amman, Stockholm, and Stavanger.
In the release, Lufthansa Cargo extended massive thanks to its partners in this venture: Elbe Flugzeugwerke GmbH, Airbus, and ST Engineering, for their exceptional technical expertise in the aircraft’s conversion. The airline also acknowledges the continuous support from the aircraft operator. Lufthansa CityLine GmbH, instrumental in the seamless integration of D-AEUJ into its fleet.
