Lufthansa Cargo operates over 100 cargo flights for EgeTrans
Airbus A340 aircraft, and in some instances Airbus A350 aircraft of Lufthansa Passage, were exclusively used for EgeTrans.
The aircraft are deployed on the Frankfurt-Chicago route, carrying an average of around 37 tonnes of freight per flight.
Lufthansa Cargo has carried out over 100 'preighter' flights – freight transport in passenger aircraft – for the transport company EgeTrans Internationale Spedition GmbH from the German city, Marbach am Neckar.
These preighter flights have been enabled by the charter agreement between Lufthansa Cargo and EgeTrans which has been in place since the end of 2020.
Airbus A340 aircraft, and in some instances the Airbus A350 aircraft of Lufthansa Passage, were exclusively used for EgeTrans. They operate on the route from Frankfurt to Chicago, carrying an average of around 37 tonnes of freight per flight. Cargo flown included consignments for agricultural machinery, as well as for the automotive, commercial vehicle and hydraulics industries. This cargo can be transported from Baden-Württemberg to the USA in the fastest way possible. At peak times, up to five preighters flew weekly in the summer of 2021, inclusive of roundtrips.
Achim Martinka, vice-president (Germany) of Lufthansa Cargo, said, "Organising such preighter turnarounds requires precise coordination with our customers, but also with all parties involved, such as Lufthansa Cargo, Lufthansa Passage and Lufthansa Technik. We are proud to have established such a reliable and resilient process chain for the respective freight requirements in these special times. In future, we will continue to focus on using and offering synergies and capacities in the best possible way for our customers."
Florian Naujocks, Air Cargo Manager at EgeTrans commended Lufthansa Cargo, saying, "The communication with Lufthansa Cargo contacts worked flawlessly and to our complete satisfaction. We are proud that the close cooperation with the Lufthansa Cargo Team Stuttgart is not exclusively limited to the freighters, but that we also have cargo capacities available thrice a week on both freighters and passenger aircraft bound for Chicago at Lufthansa Cargo."
Against the backdrop of lower ancillary loading capacities in passenger aircraft, Lufthansa Cargo has since 2020 regularly enabled freight-only transports in passenger aircraft. Some of these have been specially converted for this purpose, and could not often be used in the usual scheduled service due to the pandemic. Since March 2020, Lufthansa Cargo has operated numerous preighter flights worldwide.
With a turnover of 3.8 billion euros and a transport performance of 7.2 billion freight ton kilometers in 2021, Lufthansa Cargo is one of the world's leading companies in the transport of airfreight.
