Lufthansa Cargo flies calmly through a challenging year

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Lufthansa Cargo took to the skies with well-filled aircraft over the past twelve months. Despite a slight decline in transported cargo volume, Germany’s number one freight airline was able to maintain its capacity utilisation last year with a cargo load factor of 69.7 per cent (2013: 69.9 per cent). Faced by tough competition, the cargo airline transported around 1.7 million tonnes of freight and mail in 2014, posting a slight year-on-year decline of 2.7 per cent.

In the past financial year, Lufthansa Cargo successfully focused on a flexible and demand-driven management of its capacities with the aim of boosting yields. At the same time, the freight airline invested in its network for its customers, adding Milan in Italy, Lagos in Nigeria and the Tunisian capital Tunis to its destinations. In addition, business with key sectors like the oil and gas industry played a stronger role for Lufthansa Cargo. Since November it has been offering a non-stop Boeing 777F flight from Houston (USA) to Stavanger (Norway) every Saturday, linking two of the world’s most important centres of the oil and gas industry.

Peter Gerber, Chairman of the Executive Board and CEO of Lufthansa Cargo, said: “Competition on the market was very fierce again last year. The fact that we continue to fly in this environment with an unchanged high capacity utilisation rate, testifies to the success of our network management and strength of our global offerings and sales.”

Gerber’s forecast for the coming year is cautiously optimistic. He said: “Despite the still difficult framework conditions, Lufthansa Cargo pursued its future programme Lufthansa Cargo 2020 with great determination in the past financial year.”

A new IT system for cargo handling is being rolled out world-wide, marketing of lucrative express products further reinforced, and preparations for the new air freight terminal in Frankfurt, LCCneo, are in full swing. As another milestone of Lufthansa Cargo 2020, he also singled out the launch of a strategic joint venture with All Nippon Airways (ANA) on routes between Japan and Europe. This is to ensure further growth on the important routes between the two major economic regions.

The economic result for the year 2014 will be announced this March. As already stated in the third interim report 2014, Lufthansa Cargo still assumes that its operating result will be higher than in the previous year.

For more information, please visit: http://lufthansa-cargo.com/en_de/meta/meta/press-media/press-releases/single-view/article/lufthansa-cargo-flies-calmly-through-a-challenging-year-1/?tx_ttnews[backPid]=2421&cHash=a805672de7ca1e7be69d7bcbab1176c7