Lufthansa launches first Brussels-America freighter

Lufthansa Cargo is to start a twice-weekly B777F freighter service between Brussels and Chicago O’Hare on 3 April – its first ever cargo service from Belgium to the American continent. The departures, on Mondays and Wednesdays, will originate at the German carrier’s main Frankfurt hub, and aim to exploit opportunities at the major gateway for European pharma exports.

Return from Chicago will be direct to Frankfurt.

Brussels International has more pharma warehouses space of any airport in Europe and the airport cargo community is well versed in handling of time and temperature sensitive goods – Brussels stakeholders were the first worldwide to receive the CEIV Pharma certification, says Lufthansa.

The gateway also offers a closed cold chain from warehouse to aircraft, thanks to its Airside Pharma Transporters.

Lufthansa Cargo chief executive, Ashwin Bhat said: “With our new connection, we can now offer an even more attractive network, and in particular a direct connection for particularly time-critical freight.”

Airport chief executive, Arnaud Feist, said that Lufthansa would be an important asset to Brussels’ cargo network, adding the two had a shared focus on reliable and efficient transport of pharmaceuticals and a shared sustainability ambition, epitomised by Lufthansa’s sharkskin technology and investment in Sustainable Aviation Fuel.

Lufthansa’s global B777F network now runs to 82 weekly connections from the start of the summer flight schedule on 31 March including 34 from Europe to North America and four to South America.