The Lufthansa Group’s board has approved Lufthansa Cargo’s operation of two brand-new Boeing 777Fs which will replace the carrier’s MD-11Fs in the long term.
The carrier ordered two brand-new Boeing 777Fs in May of this year, but the question of who would manage and operate these was left open until now. The new aircraft will modernise the fleet and are expected to replace MD-11F freighters in the long term.
The aircraft are expected to be transported from the Boeing plant in Seattle to their future base in Frankfurt in February and March 2019.
Chairman of the executive board and chief executive officer, Peter Gerber said: “We are thrilled to soon be welcoming two brand-new freighters to our Triple Seven fleet. This major investment in the future of Lufthansa Cargo has been made possible by last year’s outstanding results.
“This is a fitting reward for the tremendous efforts of all Lufthansa Cargo employees and emphasises that we have taken the right course at an early stage.”
Given how well the market is performing at the moment, Lufthansa Cargo said it will continue to operate some of the MD-11Fs earmarked for retirement for the time being so as to provide customers with more valuable cargo capacity as needed.
“This allows us to fully participate in the market growth but respond flexibly to signs of change,” said Gerber. “Accordingly, we will decide on when to phase out individual MD-11Fs based on the market situation. Our strategic goal remains to operate a solely B777F fleet going forward.”
