A Lufthansa passenger aircraft utilized for an all-cargo service from China landed in Frankfurt loaded with around 30 tons of freight.

The Germany-based carrier flew the first of such an all-cargo service on March 25 from Shanghai Pudong (PVG) and landed at 2:14p.m. (local time) after a flight time of 11 hours and 6 minutes.

Lufthansa said 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.

Apart from the cargo compartments of the Airbus A330 used, Lufthansa said the cabin including the stowage compartments above the seats was also loaded.

More cargo-only flights utilizing passenger planes

"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," the carrier said in ia statement.

It noted that 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," Lufthansa said, noting how valuable logistics and airfreight are during emergency and crisis situations.

Lufthansa said in addition to urgent spare and machine parts, mainly sensitive pharmaceuticals and fresh goods are transported intercontinental by air.

The carrier said Boeing 777-F freighter has a standard load capacity of 103 tons.