Lufthansa Cargo will offer more freighter capacity to China as the company adjusts its route network in response to corresponding demand for the 2023 summer flight schedule.

Weekly frequencies to destinations in China served by Boeing 777F aircraft will be both increased and combined in routing, which Lufthansa Cargo said offered customers “more flexible capacity for the fast and direct transport of their shipments”.

In addition, Lufthansa Cargo is expanding its A321F network on short- and medium-haul routes.

Lufthansa Cargo’s current 2023 summer flight schedule includes a total of 79 weekly intercontinental connections. All long-haul destinations will be served from the international hub in Frankfurt by a total of 16 Boeing 777F aircraft. In particular, the route network will be expanded to include flights to China: in the future Lufthansa Cargo will offer a total of ten freighter flights per week to Shanghai. On two of these Shanghai connections, Lufthansa Cargo will also fly to Chengdu, doubling its capacity there.

In addition, the number of weekly flights to Hong Kong will increase from five to six, including one stop in Almaty. This destination in Kazakhstan was last part of the route network in 2019 and will now be resumed.

The combined service from Frankfurt via Mumbai to Hyderabad will also be increased to two flights per week.

Lufthansa Cargo said it would continue to offer its 777F rotations to destinations in North and South America and on the route to Tel Aviv in combination with Cairo in the summer flight schedule.

On short- and medium-haul routes, Lufthansa Cargo will continue to offer more than 50 weekly connections, using two Airbus A321F aircraft. By the end of July, the A321 freighter fleet will grow to four aircraft. Related adjustments and extensions to the flight schedule on short- and medium-haul routes are currently still being planned.

The summer flight schedule comes into effect on 26 March 2023.

“Looking at the Chinese market in particular, we are seeing an upturn in economic activity and thus also an increasing demand for a reliable and quality transport solutions by air freight for sensitive and high value goods,” said Lufthansa Cargo’s chief commercial officer Ashwin Bhat.

“Accordingly, we have specifically adapted the flight schedule to meet the demands of our customers. The extensive capacity of our fleet gives us more flexibility on intercontinental routes as well as in the short- and medium-haul network.”

In addition to the freighter offering, Lufthansa Cargo also markets the additional load capacities of some Lufthansa Group airlines, which it said was “growing strongly with the resumption and frequency expansion of numerous passenger connections”. This represents almost half of Lufthansa Cargo’s capacity.

In the 2023 summer flight schedule, cargo will be regularly transported on more than 7,000 flights a week operated by Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Eurowings Discover and SunExpress.