In a presentation at the ongoing Air Cargo Europe trade fair being held in Munich this week (June 2-5), Lufthansa Cargo has laid out plans for marketing ITA Airways’ cargo capacity and for further development of its freighter network.
Lufthansa Cargo recently announced that it will market and manage the cargo capacity of Italy’s ITA Airways.
Launch will take place with the flights from São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires to Rome of June 16. Subject to regulatory approvals, Lufthansa Cargo will gradually take over the marketing of ITA Airways’ entire continental and intercontinental freight network.
This cooperation will increase Lufthansa Cargo’s global belly capacity by almost 20 percent, which corresponds to a theoretical expansion of its fleet by three freighters.
“This will enable us to offer our customers even more flexible and reliable freight connections to and from Europe,” chief executive Ashwin Bhat noted.
“At the same time, this partnership strengthens our ability to support global trade and our customers through expanded reach and shorter transit times.”
Continued growth
The greater choice for Lufthansa Cargo customers that the collaboration with ITA Airways represents is being complemented by other freight capacity being added to the German flag-carrier’s own network.
The most recent additions to the Lufthansa Cargo network have included a direct Boeing 777 freighter service launched last year from Brussels to Chicago, which primarily serves the pharmaceutical industry; the integration of Munich into its A321 cargo network; and a new transpacific service introduced linking Ho Chi Minh City to Los Angeles.
And, looking forward, on July 3 Lufthansa Cargo will add Beirut Airport to its short- and medium-haul A321F network, the route to be operated once a week.
With the new Beirut service and the belly capacities of the Lufthansa Group, Lufthansa Cargo will offer its customers connections to over 50 destinations in the Middle East and Africa, including six freighter stations.
‘Unique value offering’
From mid-June, Lufthansa Cargo will have five airfreight hubs – its current hubs at Frankfurt, Munich, Vienna and Brussels will be complemented by ITA Airways’ base at Rome.
In addition to the capacity of its own cargo aircraft fleet and the AeroLogic freighter joint venture, it also markets the belly capacities of Lufthansa Airlines, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Discover Airlines, SunExpress, and soon ITA Airways will be added to the stable.
“Our strength as part of the Lufthansa Group, Europe’s largest airline group, combined with our quality service, reliability and expertise in transporting all types of cargo – whether aircraft engines, insulin or microchips – creates a unique value offering for our customers,” Bhat concluded.
