Lufthansa Cargo is looking to firmly establish itself among the top five leading cargo airlines in the world, Ashwin Bhat, CEO of Lufthansa Cargo, said as the carrier reported positive performance last year. 

This year, Lufthansa Cargo remains optimistic despite market uncertainties as it noted a focus on expanding its offerings and looking at industry-specific solutions for the automotive, healthcare, and semiconductor sectors.

For 2024, Lufthansa Cargo reported improved business results compared to the previous year, with revenue increasing by 10% to 3.26 billion euros (previous year: 2.98 billion euros), and adjusted EBIT rose by 15 percent to 251 million euros (previous year: 219 million euros).

Available freight capacity also expanded in 2024 to a total of 13.7 billion freight tonne-kilometers (up 9%), and sales increased by 14% year over year to 8.5 billion freight tonne-kilometers.

"Our 'BOLD MOVES' strategy proved crucial to Lufthansa Cargo's success in 2024. We were able to demonstrate two things last year: our speed of innovation focused on customer needs and our flexibility in quickly responding to market developments," Bhat said.

Lufthansa's new corporate strategy, 'BOLD MOVES,' has been implemented since the beginning of 2024. It focuses on three main areas: improving customer satisfaction and cost efficiency based on profitable and sustainable growth and further developing the corporate culture.

"With a three-year horizon, it aims to firmly establish Lufthansa Cargo among the top 5 leading cargo airlines worldwide," he added.

Looking to 2025, the Lufthansa Cargo chief signalled optimism of continued growth for the cargo airline.

"I am optimistic about 2025 – a year that will continue to be characterized by uncertainties and unpredictable events. With 'BOLD MOVES' and our employees, we are well-positioned to meet these challenges and successfully deliver on our mission of 'Enabling Global Business,'" Bhat said.

In the fiscal year 2025, Lufthansa Cargo will continue to focus on expanding its offerings: new opportunities for customers are expected in the short term with partners ITA Airways and Swiss WorldCargo.

Lufthansa Cargo also aims to unlock growth potential by focusing more on industry-specific solutions for the Automotive, Healthcare, and Semiconductor sectors.

The cargo carrier also expects strong demand for the ecommerce sector this year. It noted that the 600-million-euro investment project LCCevo, which aims to develop Lufthansa Cargo's Frankfurt hub into Europe's leading air freight hub by 2030, will continue to be pursued this year.