Lufthansa Cargo welcomes fourth A321 freighter to its fleet and continues to expand its route network

| Dec 06 2023 at 11:00 AM | Air Cargo

Fourth Airbus A321 freighter to add capacity to short- and medium-haul network
New in the winter flight schedule: Stockholm, Amman, and Stavanger

Since November, the fourth A321 freighter has been operating in Lufthansa Cargo’s network, making a significant contribution to the cargo carrier’s expansion plans. The freighter with the registration D-AEUJ completes the A321F fleet, meeting the growing freight requirements of its customers. With 14 pallet and container positions on the main deck and ten on the lower deck, the twin-engine medium-haul aircraft has a total payload of 28 tons each and offer fast and flexible transportation solutions in scheduled or charter operations. The freighter has already made its first flights to Istanbul (IST), Helsinki (HEL), Stockholm (ARN), Birmingham (BHX), Dublin (DUB), Casablanca (CMN), Copenhagen (CPH), and Madrid (MAD). Especially the Spanish colleagues were pleased to welcome the new freighter named "¡Hola España!".

As part of its expansion strategy, Lufthansa Cargo continues to expand and optimize its existing A321F network. The new winter flight schedule, which came into effect on October 29, includes two new destinations: Amman (AMM) and Stockholm (ARN). The Jordanian capital Amman (AMM) is connected to the central cargo hub in Germany once a week by an A321 freighter with flight number LH8288/8289.

Stockholm Arlanda (ARN) is an important hub for the transportation of pharmaceutical and temperature-sensitive goods. Three times a week, the flight with flight numbers LH8354/LH8355 connects Frankfurt and Stockholm. The new routing takes place on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. Especially the Friday flight offers customers the possibility of late deliveries at the end of the industry's production week, connecting in Frankfurt to Lufthansa Cargo’s worldwide network the next morning.

On November 23, Stavanger (SVG) was added to the A321F network. Stavanger (SVG) is already part of the B777F network but will now be served once a week by A321 freighters. The medium-haul freighter will fly every Thursday from Frankfurt to Stavanger (LH8356) and back to Frankfurt via Copenhagen (LH8357). With Copenhagen and Helsinki already being part of the A321F network, the addition of Stockholm Arlanda (ARN) and Stavanger (SVG) now completes the Nordic countries. "I am very pleased that with our latest additions we now connect all Nordic countries to the rest of the world with our A321 freighter fleet," says Henning Oldendorf, Head of Sales and Handling Nordics & Baltics.

"In total, we will serve 18 destinations in the short- and medium-haul network on more than 32 weekly flights with Airbus A321 freighters," says Ashwin Bhat, CEO of Lufthansa Cargo. "The high demand and the very positive feedback from our customers confirm our strategy to further expand our capacity and offer with the fast connections of the A321F operations. In addition, we are constantly evaluating our route network to create and adapt new capacities." For more than 1,5 years now, Lufthansa Cargo has been successfully offering its customers fast and flexible transport solutions in both scheduled and charter business with its A321F fleet.

In addition to the expanded A321F service on short- and medium-haul routes, Lufthansa Cargo offers its customers 83 weekly connections with currently 16 Boeing 777 freighters to intercontinental destinations in this year’s winter flight schedule and markets the belly capacities of more than 6,000 flights operated by Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Discover Airlines and SunExpress. The fleet is expected to grow to 18 B777 freighters during the winter flight schedule.