Santa’s little helper, a Lufthansa Cargo MD-11 festive freighter

Lufthansa Cargo is running seven exclusive charter flights between Frankfurt and New York to deal with peak season e-commerce demand.
The German flag carrier has once again expanded its festive freighter capacity in cooperation with Deutsche Post, operating a weekly MD-11F from mid-November until January 3 on the Frankfurt–JFK route.
Said a Lufthansa spokesperson: The Atlantic will be criss-crossed seven times in total – exclusively for Deutsche Post, and especially in the service of Santa Claus.”
Dorothea von Boxberg, Lufthansa Cargo executive board member product and sales, said: “There is great demand in the run-up to Christmas for our airmail/eCommerce product in particular for short-notice deadline-sensitive shipments.”
“Therefore, we have ramped up capacity exclusively for our close partner Deutsche Post in recent years. This year, for the first time, we have even been able to provide the support of seven charters during the Christmas period due to growing parcel volumes.”
Von Boxberg emphasised that the extra flights allow Lufthansa Cargo and Deutsche Post DHL to ensure that gifts make it “under the tree” on time.
Furthermore, this supports many SMEs and e-commerce platforms in Germany in gaining access to the major global players at the busiest time of the year.
“During the Christmas period especially, it is particularly important to us that we ensure excellent reliability in global transport so that our customers receive the goods they ordered and presents from family and friends on time for the holidays”, said Thomas Kling, senior vice president international operations at Deutsche Post.
On the important connection to the US, daily shipment volumes are currently a third higher than in other months. “This trend shows once again how important mail still is for connecting people and companies in different countries,” said Kling.
Each MD-11 flight can carry 60 tonnes of cargo – with most of it being gifts and e-commerce shipments but also Christmas messages and greeting cards.
Airmail/eCommerce is the Lufthansa Cargo product for delivering important letters and parcels in the fastest way possible.
Added the spokesperson: “A tailor-made flight schedule, a strong network with many cooperation partners and, above all, the four airmail hubs in Frankfurt, Munich, Vienna and Brussels, guarantee on-time delivery.”
Up to 400 tonnes of international airmail are handled each day at Frankfurt.