First Lufthansa passenger aircraft full of air cargo lands in Frankfurt

Airbus A330 of Lufthansa D-AIKI ("Jena") at Frankfurt Airport

Loaded with around 30 tons of freight, a Lufthansa passenger aircraft landed in Frankfurt today at 2:14 pm after a flight time of 11 hours and 6 minutes. In addition to the cargo compartments of the Airbus A330, the cabin including the stowage compartments above the seats was also loaded. On board the aircraft with the registration number D-AIKI were various highly urgent goods, mainly from the medical sector, including masks and other protective equipment. The required permits for the flight were issued in excellent cooperation with the foreign ministries and embassies of the People’s Republic of China and the Federal Republic of Germany.

Lufthansa Cargo is making every effort to strengthen security of supply by air. About half of the goods are normally transported in freighters, the other half in the bellies of passenger aircraft. Due to the far-reaching cancellations of passenger connections, valuable airfreight capacity is lacking. The Lufthansa Group and Lufthansa Cargo are therefore looking into the possibility of operating further flights exclusively for cargo transport on passenger aircraft.

Especially in emergency and crisis situations, logistics and airfreight are of particular importance. In addition to urgent spare and machine parts, mainly sensitive pharmaceuticals and fresh goods are transported intercontinental by air. A Boeing 777F freighter has a standard load capacity of 103 tons.