Lufthansa’s cargo business recorded improvements in revenues, profits and volumes in the second quarter as it benefited from higher rates.

The airline group’s logistics segment, which includes Lufthansa Cargo, time:matters, Jettainer and an equity investment in AeroLogic, saw second-quarter revenues increase by 13% on last year to €766m, while earnings before interest and tax for the period increased by 9% to €327m and volumes were up 38% to 1.3bn revenue cargo tonne kms.

Its average load factor for the period improve by 5.9 percentage points on last year to 73.1%.

“The positive course of business in the Logistics business segment continued from 2020 into the first half of 2021; global freight capacity was again significantly reduced by the absence of belly capacities on passenger aircraft, so demand for the remaining freight capacity held strong during the first half of 2021,” Lufthansa said.

The airline said that in response to the reduced market capacity, a decision was made to add two additional Boeing 777Fs to the fleet in the second half of 2021 as part of the planned renewal and harmonisation of the freight fleet.

The two remaining MD-11 freighters will be retired from service by the end of 2021; a decision was also made to increase freight capacity from early 2022 through the use of two A321s that have been converted into freighters.

“Continued structural capacity constraints in the global freight business are expected to support the revenue and earnings development of Lufthansa Cargo in the coming years as well,” the airline said.

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