Lufthansa Cargo (LH, Frankfurt International) has decided to accelerate the phase-out of MD-11(F)s to late 2020 or early 2021, against earlier plans to keep the type in service until 2024, industry publication CargoForwarder Global has reported.
The acceleration of the MD-11(F) phase-out is mostly driven by the downturn on the global cargo market. According to IATA, cargo traffic from January through August 2019 decreased by 3.3% in terms of available tonne-kilometres (ATKs) in comparison to the same period of 2018, mostly due to the US-China trade war and other geopolitical uncertainties.
The German cargo specialist decided instead to boost its cooperation with AeroLogic (3S, Leipzig/Halle), a 50/50 joint venture between the Lufthansa Group and DHL Express. Particulars of this strategic realignment are still subject to corporate approvals although Lufthansa Cargo is expected to rely on B777-Fs as a replacement for the MD-11(F)s.
According to the ch-aviation fleets module, Lufthansa Cargo currently operates ten MD-11(F)s, which are 20.3 years old on average, and seven B777-Fs, which are 4.2 years old on average. It owns all seventeen aircraft. Sources said that the airline will decide in 2020 whether to order additional Boeing freighters. Currently, it has no further B777-Fs on order from the manufacturer or lessors.
In turn, AeroLogic operates fourteen B777-F(s), of which three are marketed exclusively by Lufthansa Cargo.
As a part of the strategic transformation, AeroLogic has already taken over a number of Lufthansa Cargo routes, previously operated with MD-11(F)s, including services to Los Angeles International and Seattle Tacoma International, to México City International, Guadalajara, and Dallas/Fort Worth, and to Chennai and Ho Chi Minh City.
Going forward, AeroLogic will also take over Lufthansa Cargo's Southern American services to São Paulo Viracopos, Buenos Aires Ministro Pistarini, Montevideo Carrasco, Natal Aluizio Alves, and Curitiba International. Following the replacement of the MD-11(F)s with B777-Fs, the airline will also drop the technical stops at Dakar Blaise Diagne International airport.
