Lufthansa Cargo opens new freighter service through Arlanda

Lufthansa Cargo, the logistics arm of Germany’s flag-carrier, has introduced a new once-a-week service linking its home hub at Frankfurt Airport to the Scandinavian hub of Stockholm Arlanda Airport.

The connection was launched on 4 November, with a newly acquired Airbus A321 freighter now being flown through Friday night to Saturday morning each week on the link.

As such, the new service offers the opportunity for late deliveries from Stockholm Arlanda on Fridays and connection from Frankfurt to Lufthansa Cargo’s worldwide network the next morning.

Henning Oldendorf, head of sales and handling Nordics & Baltics at Lufthansa Cargo, informed: “Sweden is known for its high-value exports, including technology, pharmaceuticals and machinery.

“These industries require reliable and efficient air freight services to move their products around the world.”

The connection is able to offer Lufthansa Cargo customers faster transit times from the Nordic countries. Indeed, “The new freighter service from Stockholm offers attractive uplift options for local industry, where both lead time and quality are key,” Oldendorf continued.

“The fact that the flights run through the night from Friday to Saturday creates opportunities for both imports and exports at the end of the industry’s production week.”

Elizabeth Axtelius, director aviation business at Swedavia – the group that owns, operates and develops 10 airports in Sweden – observed: “There is a great confidence in the Swedish market, and Lufthansa Cargo’s investment in a direct route from Stockholm Arlanda Airport is a clear sign of this.

“Lufthansa Cargo will play an important role in connecting Stockholm to important freight hubs and well-established as well as emerging markets in Northern Europe and the rest of the world.

“To further facilitate for important goods such as technology and pharmaceuticals to be delivered at shorter times is and a main goal of Swedavia,” she added.

Earlier this month November), Lufthansa Cargo announced that it had launched a new high-speed service for cargo shipments.

The new td.Zoom service offers the carrier’s fastest transport times, with ramp supervision during aircraft loading and unloading, dedicated ramp transfer from the warehouse to the aircraft and vice versa, as well as tail-to-tail transfer on demand at Lufthansa Cargo’s hubs in Frankfurt, Zurich and Munich.

Less positively, also this month Lufthansa’s logistics business confirmed that it had been unable to make an operating profit in the third quarter of the year as the market normalised following the Covid pandemic.

The logistics division, which includes Lufthansa Cargo, time:matters, Jettainer, HeyWorld and a 50% stake in AeroLogic, saw third-quarter earnings before interest and tax (ebit) fall to €0 compared with a profit of €330m a year earlier.

It is the first time since the first quarter of 2020 that the carrier has failed to report an ebit profit, although the third quarter does tend to be one of the weaker times of year for the air cargo industry.