Lufthansa Cargo
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| Founded | 1994 | ||
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| Hubs | Frankfurt Airport | ||
| Secondary hubs | Yemelyanovo Airport Rajiv Gandhi International Airport |
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| Fleet size | 18 | ||
| Destinations | 39 | ||
| Parent company | Deutsche Lufthansa AG | ||
| Headquarters | Frankfurt, Germany | ||
| Key people | Karl Ulrich Garnadt (Chairman) | ||
| Website | lufthansa-cargo.com |
Lufthansa Cargo AG is a cargo airline from Germany, operating worldwide air freight and logistics services on behalf of Lufthansa, of which it is a wholly owned subsidiary. The company is headquartered in Building 451 of the Frankfurt Airport area in Frankfurt, the major hub of Lufthansa.[1][2] Lufthansa Cargo does not only offer space on its own freighters, but also has access to the cargo capacities of more than 300 Lufthansa passenger aircraft (including Condor, SunExpress and Austrian Airlines).
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[edit] History
Lufthansa had already operated a cargo subsidiary, called German Cargo, between 1977 and 1993 (earlier still, cargo operations were executed in-house, already under the Lufthansa Cargo name), when in an effort to restructure the company the cargo division was re-integrated into the mother concern, and split up into two parts (one for scheduled operations using Lufthansa-owned aircraft, and one for freight and logistics services using chartered or leased aircraft).
Thus, Lufthansa Cargo was created as a limited stock company on 30 November 2004, along with Lufthansa Cargo Charter. Concerning its airline codes, Lufthansa Cargo uses LH (the same IATA code as Lufthansa), as well as GEC (the former ICAO code of German Cargo). Lufthansa is unique compared to its mayor European competitors like British Airways and Air France in that the cargo business is organized in an entirely different airline entity. For some years, Lufthansa Cargo (including the freight transported in the cargo holds of mainline Lufthansa passenger aircraft) was the leading cargo airline in terms of international freight tonne-kilometres carried[citation needed], but has meanwhile been surpassed by Cathay Pacific and Korean Air Cargo.
[edit] Operations and subsidiaries
As of 2011, all Lufthansa Cargo aircraft are based at Frankfurt Airport, the seventh busiest freight hub in the world, where the airline enjoys a strong co-operation with Fraport, the operator of the airport. Cargo facilities at the airport are divided into two places (Cargo City North and South), of which the first one is nearly exclusively used by Lufthansa Cargo.
In earlier years[when?], Lufthansa Cargo had a secondary base at Leipzig/Halle Airport, the European hub for DHL Express, from where it operated flights on behalf of DHL. Activities at this airport gradually came to an end following the formation of AeroLogic as a joint venture between Lufthansa and DHL, which henceforth caters for the DHL flights, allowing Lufthansa Cargo to concentrate on other services.[3]
In 2000, Lufthansa Cargo was a founding member of the WOW Alliance, a global cargo airline alliance, but left in 2007 as it did not see any benefits for the future.
Lufthansa Cargo used to operate a hub for intra-Asian flights at Astana International Airport in Kazachstan, but was forced to relocate it to Yemelyanovo Airport in Russia in 2007, because otherwise the airline would have been banned from entering Russian airspace, in what was described as an act of economic blackmailing by the Russian authorities.[4][5]
In 2008, Jade Cargo International founded as a joint venture between Shenzhen Airlines, Lufthansa Cargo, and the German Investment Corporation, a German governmental entity, thus allowing Lufthansa Cargo for a stronger presence in the Asian markets.
In May 2011, Lufthansa Cargo opened another hub at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad, in order to transport temperature-sensitive goods, especially pharmaceuticals, between South East Asia and Europe (and onwards to the United States).[6]
[edit] Destinations
Lufthansa Cargo operates flights to 39 destinations in 23 countries.[7]
[edit] Fleet
As of June 2011, the Lufthansa Cargo fleet consists of the following aircraft with an average age of 15.4 years, all of which feature the Lufthansa livery:[8]
| Aircraft | Total | Orders | Notes |
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includes last MD-11 ever built |
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to be delivered from 2016 |
| Total | 18 | 5 |
To commemorate the event of "100 years of Air Cargo" in 2011, an MD-11 (the one registered D-ALCC) was painted in a special livery, featuring photos of cargo operations in the past.[10]
[edit] Fleet development
The initial fleet of Lufthansa Cargo had previously belonged to German Cargo, and was expanded by cargo-converted former Lufthansa mainline Boeing 747-200s. From 1998, the airline began to gradually phase out all other aircraft types in favor of a fleet entirely consisting of the McDonnell Douglas MD-11.
Over the years, the following aircraft types were operated:[8]
| Aircraft | Introduced | Retired |
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| Boeing 737-300 |
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| Boeing 747-200 |
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| McDonnell Douglas MD-11 |
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In March 2011, the order of five Boeing 777F was announced, the same aircraft type which had earlier been chosen for AeroLogic.[9]
[edit] Accidents and incidents
- On 7 November 2004 at 16:35 local time, a Boeing 747-200 freighter, owned and operated by Air Atlanta Icelandic, overshot the runway upon take-off at Sharjah International Airport and was damaged beyond repair. The aircraft, registered TF-ARR, had been leased by Lufthansa Cargo to operate Flight 8457 to Frankfurt Airport. The pilots had decided to abort the take-off run even though the remaining runway length did not suffice to bring the aircraft to a halt because of a burst tyre and the ATC notification of an alleged fire (which turned out to be not true). The four persons on board were not injured.[11]
- On 13 September 2009, a Lufthansa Cargo McDonnell-Douglas MD-11 (registered D-ALCO) was damaged in a heavy landing at Mexico City International Airport following Flight 8240 from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.[12] Post landing inspection revealed that there were wrinkles in the fuselage skin and the nose gear was bent,[13] but the aircraft could be repaired and returned to service.[14]
- On 27 July 2010 at 11:38 local time, Lufthansa Cargo Flight 8460, an MD-11 registered D-ALCQ, crashed upon landing at King Khalid International Airport, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and was damaged beyond repair in the ensuing fire. The Pilot in command and the First Officer — the only two persons on board — could leave the aircraft by themselves.[15][16][17]
[edit] References
- ^ "Lufthansa Cargo appoints new regional managers." Lufthansa Cargo. 6 February 2008. Retrieved on 18 September 2009.
- ^ "Imprint." Lufthansa Cargo. Retrieved on 28 May 2011. "Lufthansa Cargo AG Flughafenbereich West Tor 25, Gebäude 451 D-60546 Frankfurt am Main"
- ^ AeroLogic outlines launch and expansion plans Flight Global, 28 January 2008
- ^ Russia 'Blackmails' Lufthansa over Cargo Hubs Spiegel Online International 11/02/2007
- ^ German flights row highlights EU-Russia trade tensions
- ^ airliners.de: Lufthansa Cargo to opens hub at Hyderabad (in German)
- ^ Lufthansa Cargo AG flight schedule 9mb file in Excel format - only those destinations with MD-11 service are Lufthansa Cargo destinations
- ^ a b Lufthansa Cargo fleet list at planespotters.net
- ^ a b Lufthansa announces Boeing 777F order
- ^ Airliners.net - Photo of D-ALLC in "100 Years Air Cargo" livery
- ^ Flight 8457 at the Aviation Safety Network
- ^ Flight 8240 at the Aviation Safety Network
- ^ "Accident: Lufthansa Cargo MD11 at Mexico City on Sep 13th 2009, hard landing". The Aviation Herald. http://avherald.com/h?article=4210beec&opt=0. Retrieved 11 October 2009.
- ^ History of D-ALCO at airfleets.net
- ^ "UPDATE 2-Lufthansa cargo plane crashes at Saudi airport". Reuters. 27 July 2010. http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLDE66Q10Z20100727. Retrieved 2010-07-27.
- ^ "BBC News - Lufthansa cargo plane crashes at Riyadh airport". Bbc.co.uk. 2010-03-27. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-10772817. Retrieved 2010-07-27.
- ^ Flight 8460 at the Aviation Safety Network
[edit] External links
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