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Lufthansa Cargo to reduce 20% of fleet capacity

Monday March 9, 2009

Lufthansa Cargo said Friday that it will ground two MD-11 freighters based at Leipzig/Halle and park two more aircraft at Frankfurt.

The FRA pair will not fly but will be maintained so that they may resume operations immediately if demand dictates. "This reduction equals about 20% of the total capacity of our 19 MD-11F strong fleet. We transferred the [two] aircraft to Leipzig because we got a good offer from the airport [for long-term parking]," an LH spokesperson confirmed to ATWOnline.

LH Cargo would not rule out grounding additional aircraft if business continues to decline (ATWOnline, March 4). However, no layoffs are planned and the company has offered its pilots part-time work solutions (ATWOnline, Feb. 2). In December it suspended its wet-lease of two MD-11Fs and one 747-400F from World Airways (ATWOnline, Dec. 23, 2008). It is scheduled to announce its 2008 financial results on March 19.

Meanwhile, it is expected that Lufthansa Group will ground more passenger aircraft. It already has parked four A300-600s at LEJ. Additional A300s and A340-300s would be considered for parking if it moves ahead with the reduction.

by Kurt Hofmann