In July, Lufthansa Cargo is expanding its regional freighter service by adding flights from Munich Airport.

The German cargo carrier announced that the flights would begin on July 6 using its Airbus A321 Freighters to connect Munich and Istanbul twice a weekly.

Customers can now book flights for the service, which will operate Saturdays and Sundays under the flight numbers LH8350/LH8351 as well as LH8346/LH8347.

Ashwin Baht, the chief executive of Lufthansa Cargo, said: “Munich Airport offers ideal conditions for fast and reliable air freight transportation, which allows global business to be conducted from another important European Airport.

“With the launch our cargo operations from Munich, we are laying a foundation for our network to be even more closely aligned with the needs of customers in the future. We will continue to manage it flexible.”

Jost Lammers is the chief executive officer of Flughafen Munchen. He said: “The launch by Lufthansa of regular cargo flights from Munich to Istanbul is very good news for Bavarian exporters and for Munich Airport.

“Above average growth rates in the present year have already shown that Munich Airport has also become increasingly important as a cargo hub airport.” Lufthansa Cargo will increase the attractiveness of Munich Airport for cargo.

Lufthansa Cargo, highlighting the benefits of its transport operations in the Bavarian Capital, said that it operates a 38 000 sq m CEIV-certified pharma facility.

The hub is also linked to the Road Feeder Service of Lufthansa.

In May, Lufthansa also announced that it would extend its belly network out of Munich with the additions of summer season flights from Seattle, Toronto, Vancouver and Trondheim, Norway. Nantes, France, Oulu, Finland, and Chisinau, Moldova.

According to figures from the German Airports Association, cargo volumes at the south German gateway increased by 6.6% year-on-year, while air freight volume in Germany fell by 7.1%.

The freight from Munich totaled 284,000 tons. A significant portion of this was belly cargo, which increased by 11%.

The airport has added direct flights to China since the middle of last years, a new route in southern India to Bangalore and four weekly flights from Taipei.

This year, new routes will be added to Johannesburg and to Vietnam, Beijing, Osaka, and Beijing.

The month-on-month numbers for January and February of 2024 increased by 6.5% and 10.8%, respectively. Overall freight at Munich has now returned to almost 90% its pre-pandemic levels.

DHL Express will also open a new building for freight in the summer.

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