Seven exclusive charter flights for transporting gifts between Frankfurt and New York
In order to ensure that the enormous volume of Christmas mail and parcels between Germany and the USA is dealt with smoothly and on time, Lufthansa Cargo has again expanded its cargo capacity in cooperation with Deutsche Post AG this year. From mid-November until 3 January, an MD-11 is taking off each week on the Frankfurt – New York/JFK route. The Atlantic will be criss-crossed seven times in total – exclusively for Deutsche Post, and especially in the service of Santa Claus.
“There is great demand in the run-up to Christmas for our Airmail/eCommerce product in particular for short-notice deadline-sensitive shipments”, explained Dorothea von Boxberg, Lufthansa Cargo Executive Board Member Product and Sales. “Therefore, we have ramped up capacity exclusively for our close partner Deutsche Post AG in recent years already. This year, for the first time, we have even been able to provide the support of seven charters during the Christmas period due to growing parcel volumes.” Boxberg emphasised that the extra flights allow Lufthansa Cargo and Deutsche Post DHL to ensure that gifts make it under the tree on time. Furthermore, this supports many SMEs and e-commerce platforms in Germany in particular in gaining access to the major global players at the busiest time of the year. “During the Christmas period especially, it is particularly important to us that we ensure excellent reliability in global transport so that our customers receive the goods they ordered and presents from family and friends on time for the holidays”, emphasised Thomas Kling, Senior Vice President International Operations at Deutsche Post AG. On the important connection to the USA especially, daily shipment volumes are currently a third higher than in other months. “This trend shows once again how important mail still is for connecting people and companies in different countries”, said Thomas Kling.
In figures: An extra MD-11 is flying the FRA – JFK route seven times over the Christmas period. Each flight can carry 60 tonnes of cargo – with most of it being gifts and e-commerce shipments but also Christmas messages and greeting cards.
The first plane already took off on 19 November and the last flight will leave FRA for JFK on 3 January.
About the product: Airmail/eCommerce is the Lufthansa Cargo product for delivering important letters and parcels in the fastest way possible. A tailor-made flight schedule, a strong network with many cooperation partners and, above all, the four airmail hubs in Frankfurt, Munich, Vienna and Brussels, guarantee on-time delivery. The skills of three experienced professional logistics operators are pooled at the Airmail Center Frankfurt: thanks to Lufthansa Cargo, airport operator Fraport AG and Deutsche Post DHL, up to 400 tonnes of international airmail are handled quickly and effectively each day.
