Lufthansa Cargo is set to inaugurate a service linking Brussels to Chicago starting from April 3, 2024, allowing customers to book freight transport on a Boeing 777 Freighter from the Belgian hub to Chicago O'Hare International Airport. The flight, operating twice a week on Mondays and Wednesdays, will complete a circuit starting from Frankfurt, stopping in Brussels, reaching Chicago, and then returning to Frankfurt. This marks the first time the German carrier directly connects Belgium to the American continent with a cargo aircraft.
Ashwin Bhat, CEO of Lufthansa Cargo, highlighted the strategic significance of the Brussels airport, particularly for the pharmaceutical sector. "With our new connection, we can offer an even more attractive network, especially a direct link for time-critical freight, now including up to 34 cargo connections from Europe to North America," Bhat said. The Belgian hub is known for having the largest area of pharmaceutical warehouses in Europe and continues to invest in upgrading its cargo area. The cargo community there specializes in handling time- and temperature-sensitive goods and was the first globally to receive the CEIV Pharma certification.
On March 7, 2024, Lufthansa Cargo unveiled its 2023 financial results, indicating a downturn in revenue and profits. The company reported an adjusted EBIT of €219 million, a stark contrast to the previous year's €1.6 billion. Post-pandemic normalization of transport rates led to a 36% decrease in revenue to €2.98 billion, down from €4.6 billion the year before. Despite this, the total freight of 7.5 billion tonne-kilometers in 2023 was slightly higher than in 2022 (7.2 billion). The average load factor dipped by 1.9 percentage points year-on-year to 59.2%, while available capacity increased by 7% to 12.6 billion tonne-kilometers of freight.
The German carrier is also modernizing its Frankfurt hub, which handles eighty percent of its global traffic, with a €500 million investment. "The new facility will enable higher handling speeds, smoother transport processes, and improved service quality through state-of-the-art infrastructure technology," Bhat explained. Additionally, the company plans to expand its fleet of B777F aircraft, aiming to enhance its service quality and operational efficiency.
