Lufthansa Cargo is still pursuing a successful course. Although tonnage dipped last year, 
Germany's biggest cargo carrier kept utilisation of its aircraft capacities on a stable level. During 
the year, Lufthansa Cargo transported slightly more than 1.7 million tonnes of freight and mail, 
about 8.5 per cent below the year-earlier figure. The decrease is attributable to restrained 
demand in all traffic regions, to which the Company reacted by sharply scaling back capacity. All 
in all, the Lufthansa airfreight subsidiary trimmed capacity by more than eight per cent. The cuts 
enabled the cargo airline to hold utilisation at a very high level over the full twelve-month term: In 
comparison with the previous year, the cargo load factor even rose marginally to 69.6 per cent.

'We had to contend with an extremely difficult market environment in 2012. So we focused firmly 
on capacity utilisation and the profitability of our freighter routes,' emphasised Lufthansa Cargo 
Chairman and CEO Karl Ulrich Garnadt. 'Despite the necessary capacity cuts, we further developed 
our customer services and brought new destinations, such as Detroit, Montevideo or Tel 
Aviv, into the route network.'

The Cargo chief is looking with assurance to the future: 'We can see green shoots of economic 
recovery in key airfreight markets. Our flexible approach will allow us to respond fast and 
purposefully to emergent market opportunities and quickly increase capacity again to 
accommodate stronger demand.' In the autumn of this year, Lufthansa Cargo is awaiting 
delivery of the first two of five brand-new Boeing 777 freighters on order. The world's most 
efficient freighter aircraft of its class is integral to the comprehensive 'Lufthansa Cargo 2020' 
strategy designed to position the Company as the industry innovation leader.