Lufthansa Cargo is continuing to evaluate its options to get its fleet of Airbus A321 freighters back into the skies after they were temporarily grounded as a result of cuts made to sister airline Lufthansa CityLine that had been operating the aircraft.
The aircraft have been on the ground since mid-April when Lufthansa CityLine operations were stopped as part of measures aimed at tackling rising costs and labour disruption impacting its operations.
A Lufthansa Cargo spokesperson said it was likely an outside airline would operate the freighters in the future.
“We are currently working intensely to evaluate the available options for operating our A321-fleet,” said the spokesperson.
“Currently, it appears that this will be handled by an operator outside Lufthansa Group. It has not yet been definitively determined whether the suspension will remain in effect for the entire summer flight schedule.”
The decision to ground the CityLine fleet was part of a series of measures announced yesterday by Lufthansa in view of increased kerosene prices, which it said had more than doubled compared to the period before the Iran war, as well as rising additional burdens from labour disputes.
Lufthansa Cargo launched its A321 freighter network in 2022 to cover to intra-European demand and demand between Europe and North Africa.
The 28-ton capacity converted aircraft were based at Frankfurt Airport and operated by CityLine under a wet lease agreement.
According to FlightRadar data, two of the airline’s A321Fs have operated Frankfurt-Frankfurt flights in the last seven days.