Lufthansa Cargo reveals improved first quarter results

Lufthansa Cargo has recently announced that its cargo load factor has grown up to 72% during the first three months of 2014. This comes as an increase compared to the percentage received over the same period of last year.

“Lufthansa Cargo flew fuller plans in the first three months of 2014. Thanks to a disciplined capacity management, Europe’s leading cargo airline saw an increase in capacity sales”, the carrier has stated, despite the increase being small.

The first quarter of year saw Lufthansa Cargo move 399,000 tonnes of freight and mail, the company’s tonnage stays equal to that of the previous year’s figures, showing a downfall of 0.3%. On a more regional platform, Africa and the Middle East had the least improvement during the first quarter; the freight and mail carried plummeted down by 9.8% to 32,000 tonnes. Europe also saw its volumes fall by 3%, however Asia saw an improvement of 2.9%, bringing its tonnage to 126,000 tonnes.

Chief Executive Officer, Karl Ulrich Garnadt, said: “There are noticeable, albeit still mild, signs of a market recovery.” The CEO also went on to comment: “But I trust that we will be able to strengthen our market position with new Boeing 777 freighters and an attractive, global network in the course of the year.”

The air freight company is hoping to see further improvements as a result of its decision to start operating a Boeing 777 for a route to Shanghai, China. The airline has started to serve Shanghai Pudong Airport on a daily basis.