Lufthansa Cargo continues to go from strength to strength and has reported that in 2018 revenue was up year-on-year (YOY) by seven per cent to €2.7 billion and a profit rose two per cent to €268 million.
Year-on-year, revenue was up by €189 million and profit by €5 million. Compared to 2017, the yield per transported tonne of air cargo was also up seven per cent to €28.5 cents.
The volume of goods carried increased slightly by one per cent overall. Revenie cargo tonne kilometres were up one per cent and cargo capacity offered rose 5.3 per cent, which reduced the load factor slightly by 3.2 percentage points to 65.9 per cent.
Lufthansa Cargo chief executive officer and chairman of the executive board, Peter Gerber (pictured left) said: “Our employees have shown full commitment and done an amazing job for our customers. The result gives us additional momentum for new investments in the future.”
The German carrier’s board member for finance and human resources, Martin Schmitt said it will use the profit to modernise its means of production, which will further enhance cost efficiency.
Lufthansa Cargo will press ahead with its fleet modernisation and will already sell the capacity of four brand-new Boeing 777Fs this year. It also intends to gradually modernise the infrastructure at its logistics centre in its Frankfurt hub.
“We will continue to systematically drive digitization along the entire transport chain. We are the first cargo airline in the world to offer our customers completely paperless booking and handling for standard cargo. With our new, fully digital PreCheck process, we will now significantly accelerate and simplify handling processes for our customers.
“And we will also continue to roll out the eDGD electronic dangerous goods declaration so that even more customers and shippers will be able to benefit from this digital solution,” said Gerber.
In terms of expectations, Gerber is optimistic in his outlook: “The current year, unlike 2018, is again characterised by the weakness typical of the logistics market in the early months of the year.
“Given low global economic growth, this is currently being exacerbated by reports of Brexit and trade disputes. This means we will again face challenges in 2019, but we remain upbeat about the quarters ahead.”
