Lufthansa Cargo announced that will offer additional capacities in its medium-haul network on specially converted Airbus A321 freighters from October this year.

In its announcement, Lufthansa said the first cargo flight of its kind took off from Frankfurt to Dublin in March but due to the positive response from the market and the continuing high demand from the e-commerce and same-Day segments, a second aircraft of this type will enter scheduled service from October.

The second A321F is currently undergoing conversion in Singapore.

The twin-engine, narrow-body aircraft, Lufthansa noted, is identical in design to the first A321 freighter. It has a total of 28 tons of payload available on 14 pallets and container positions on the main deck and ten on the lower deck.

Lufthansa Cargo noted that it can continue to grow its footprint in the fast-growing e-commerce segment with the new freighter service.

Similar to the first A321F, the second aircraft will also be based at the Frankfurt hub and operated by Lufthansa CityLine under a wet lease agreement.

Both A321Fs will operate under Lufthansa Cargo flight numbers.

Lufthansa noted that the new destinations in the intra-European network include Birmingham, London, and Madrid while the existing destinations Istanbul, Tel Aviv, Malta, Tunis, Dublin, Manchester, and Cairo will continue to be served.

Istanbul and Tel Aviv will also see additional frequencies.

Same-day, e-commerce delivery

"I am very pleased about the expansion of our A321 freighter network and capacity. Complementing our B-777F and belly capacity, we can now offer even shorter transport times within European and to selected medium-haul destinations," said Ashwin Bhat, Lufthansa Cargo's chief commercial officer.

"It is our goal to build a European same-day and e-commerce network and thereby establish Lufthansa Cargo as the leading European cargo airline and service partner in the market," Bhat added, noting that the A321 freighter is a very flexible aircraft, which will allow Lufthansa to build customized networks and solutions for its customers.

In light of the dynamic market development and continuing high demand for same-day and e-commerce solutions, Lufthansa Cargo noted that it also continues to focus on growth for its intra-European network.

Two additional A321 freighters are expected in the first half of 2023.

This means that Lufthansa Cargo will double its A321F capacities in the future and will strive to deploy these aircraft to suit the respective customer needs.