German national carrier Lufthansa has turned to its A350 fleet to ferry PPE and other medical cargo from Chinese airports to the central European country.
Two daily flights now operate between Shanghai, Beijing and the Bavarian capital of Munich.
Employees of Munich Airport’s ground-handling subsidiary (AeroGround) unload the supplies, before freight-forwarding companies contracted by the federal government distribute them onwards.
Lufthansa operates the cargo flights to and from Munich with four specially-repurposed Airbus A350 passenger aircraft (pictured below). Similar emergency cargo routes also operate out of Frankfurt, with six Airbus A330 planes.
With these 10 passenger airliners, Lufthansa has created additional airfreight capacity and expanded the Lufthansa Cargo fleet, which has 17 freight-only aircraft.
Lufthansa is the latest of a string of airlines to re-equip passenger aircraft for freight purposes in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak. These include Air Canada, Korean Air and Singapore’s Scoot.
The move allows airlines to engage grounded portions of their passenger fleet to match a strong global cargo demand, and provides a much-needed source of revenue.
International Airlines Group (IAG) chief Willie Walsh spoke to this point during a 16 March briefing.
“Our intention is to try and keep as much of our capacity available for critical supplies that need to [be] shipped around the world,” he said.
“We may operate some of our passenger aircraft just for belly-hold cargo to ensure we keep critical supplies moving.”
Major North American airlines may soon follow suit. Just this week, a new safety alert for operators (SAFO) issued by the US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) approved temporary conversions of passenger cabin space to freight hold.
Lufthansa’s daily cargo flights with the passenger jets are expected to carry through until at least mid-May.
