Lufthansa Cargo is gearing up to increase its freighter services to Mexico and Asia, highlighting their attractiveness and robust economic performance. CEO Ashwin Bhat, while acknowledging the volatile airfreight market, sees these regions as lucrative for the airline. Bhat commented, "The market for airfreight is and remains volatile, but Asia and Mexico continue to be attractive, economically strong regions for us. The additional capacity of our 17th Boeing 777F in our long-haul fleet offers opportunities to specifically adapt the flight offering to the needs of our customers in these markets."
The airline's new Boeing 777F is expected to join its fleet by year-end, and an additional Airbus A321 freighter will begin operations in September. The A321 will expand the short- and medium-haul freighter fleet to four aircraft of this model.
In its long-haul cargo network, Lufthansa Cargo plans to boost flight frequencies to Tel Aviv, Cairo, Hong Kong, and Mexico City. It will also introduce new routes to Riyadh and Taipei. To Tel Aviv and Cairo, Lufthansa Cargo will operate three weekly B777 freighter services starting in October. In Asia, the frequency to Hong Kong will increase from six to seven weekly flights, routing via Mumbai.
A new twice-weekly service will connect Frankfurt to Taipei via Riyadh in November. Taipei will be integrated into the global route network for the first time, while Riyadh had been served by Lufthansa Cargo until 2020.
The airline will meet steady demand in Mexico City by increasing the number of weekly connections from six to seven in the winter flight schedule. Bhat noted that in July, all freighter flights were transferred to Felipe Ángeles International Airport, with various infrastructure enhancements to ensure swift and reliable cargo transfers between the passenger-only Mexico City airport and Felipe Ángeles as a dedicated cargo facility.