Current changes in connection with SARS-CoV-2

The current situation surrounding the spread of SARS-CoV-2 is an enormous challenge worldwide. Lufthansa Cargo is working at its utmost to optimally adapt its freight capacity to the current requirements and the constantly changing global regulations. 

An overview of the current freighter connections can be found here.

Further recent information can be read here:

+++13 May, 10:28 CEST+++

The express product BXO can be booked on freighters again until further notice.

+++07 May, 13:38 CEST+++

Freighter connections to mainland China will be increased by one frequency to 16/7 in CW 20.

Hong Kong will also be served with an additional frequency and will thus be approached at a total of 7/7.

In addition, Mumbai (BOM) will also be served at 1/7 again from next week until further notice.

+++29 April, 14:43 CEST+++

Due to continuing national and international travel restrictions, Lufthansa's repatriation flight schedule will preliminary be extended until 31 May. Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines are extending the temporary suspension of their flights further until 31 May.

+++24 April, 10:15 CEST+++

Freighter connections to mainland China will be increased by one frequency to Beijing (PEK) up to 15/7.

+++20 April, 07:55 CEST+++

Increasing connections to North America in CW 17:

Freighter services to New York (JFK) will be increased to five weekly services this week instead of four and will continue to be served via Toronto (YYZ).

Atlanta (ATL) will be served nine times a week instead of five and Chicago (ORD) ten times instead of eight. Both connections will no longer be served via YYZ until further notice.

Los Angeles (LAX) will be served four times a week instead of three times.

+++17 April 2020, 15:38 CEST+++

From 4 May 2020 Lufthansa Cargo will again offer the transport of live animals (AVI) to and from Frankfurt (FRA). However, transit shipments as well as all animal transports requiring personal escort will remain excluded for the time being due to the current situation.

+++16 April 2020, 12:48 CEST+++

Austrian Airlines has prolonged its grounding until 17 May.

+++09 April 2020, 07:25 CEST+++

Adjustments of the freighter schedule in week 15:

Mainland China will be served 14 times a week in future. In detail, Shanghai (PVG) will be served 10 times instead of 8 times a week in future, Beijing (PEK) three times instead of twice and Chengdu (CTU) is resumed once per week.

North America will be served with four additional frequencies, resulting in the following frequencies for the coming week:

JFK 5/7

LAX 4/7

ORD 9/7

ATL 9/7

+++07. April 2020, 16:04 CEST+++

Brussels Airlines has prolonged its grounding until 15 May.

+++3 April 2020, 19:19 CEST+++

Further adjustments of the freighter schedule in week 15:

Mainland China will be served 13 times a week in future. In detail, Shanghai (PVG) will be served 10 times instead of 8 times a week in future, Beijing (PEK) three times instead of twice. The stop in Chengdu (CTU) within the Shanghai rotation will be temporarily cancelled next week.

Direct flights to and from India are discontinued until further notice. Service to the subcontinent will still be provided as part of the Hong Kong (HKG) and Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) rotations. Thus, Bengaluru (BLR) and Chennai (MAA) will each be served twice a week.

+++2 April 2020, 14:20 CEST+++

Updates of the freight flight schedule for CW 15:

8/7 additional services to North America will continue to be offered in CW 15.

Connections to Hong Kong will be extended by one service to 6/7 until the end of April.

Dammam (DMM) and Riyadh (RUH) will no longer be served until the end of April.

Austrian Airlines extends its temporary cessation of flight operations until 3 May.

The express product BXO cannot be booked on freighters until further notice.

+++30 March 2020, 18:30 CET+++

Changes of the freight flight schedule to India and China:

Flights to Mumbai (BOM) can be operated regularly again. However, import shipments to Chennai (MAA) are currently suspended.

Connections to mainland China will be served this week with 7/7 direct flights to Shanghai (PVG) , 1/7 via Novosibirsk (OVB) and 2/7 to Beijing (PEK) via Novosibirsk (OVB).

In addition, 2/7 to Osaka (KIX) and Incheon (ICN) are served via Novosibirsk (OVB).

+++25 March 2020, 12:55 CET+++

Adjustments to connections to Chennai (MAA) and Ho Chi Minh City (SGN):

Due to the shutdown in India, freighter flights with destination Chennai (MAA) and Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) will be included in the following rotation twice a week:

Frankfurt (FRA) – Chennai (MAA) – Bangkok (BKK) – Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) – Frankfurt (FRA)

+++23 March 2020, 11:06 CET+++

All shipments to Mumbai (BOM) are suspended with immediate effect.

Update on freighter connections to Mainland China:

• Increase to ten frequencies per week in CW 14

Eight additional frequencies will continue to be offered to North America.

Update on passenger flights with additional cargo capacities marketed by Lufthansa Cargo:

• Austrian Airlines extends suspension of flight operations until 19 April
• The special flight schedule for the period 23-25 March can be found here

+++19 March 2020, 19:34 CET+++

Update on freighter connections to North America and Mainland China:

• nine additional North America frequencies for CW 13

• We continue to offer eight frequencies per week to Mainland China in CW 13

Update on passenger flights with additional cargo capacities marketed by Lufthansa Cargo:

Lufthansa has further reduced its flight programme for passenger flights. The special flight schedule for the period 19-21 March can be found here.

From 24 March, only 5 percent of the original flight schedule will be flown. The remaining flights in the long-haul programme are the following, operated three times a week from Frankfurt:

Newark (EWR), Chicago (ORD), Montreal (YUL), Sao Paulo (GRU), Johannesburg (JNB), Tokyo (TYO) und Bangkok (BKK)

+++18 March 2020, 11:59 CET+++

The rotations of cargo planes change as follows:

Additional freighter connections:

19.03.2020
Chicago (ORD) Boeing 777F

20.03.2020
New York (JFK) MD-11F
Atlanta (ATL) MD-11F

21.03.2020
Atlanta: MD-11F instead of Boeing 777F
Chicago (ORD) Boeing 777F

22.03.2020
Atlanta (ATL) MD-1FF
Chicago (ORD) Boeing 777F

The following freighter connections are not applicable:

20.03.2020
-Chicago (ORD) MD-11F
-Sao Paulo (VCP)/Curitiba (CWB) MD-11F

22.03.2020
-Johannesburg (JNB)/Nairobi (NBO) MD-11F

Cargo aircraft are expected to operate to all other destinations, including India, on schedule.

Notes on passenger flights with additional cargo capacities marketed by Lufthansa Cargo:
- Austrian Airlines will temporarily suspend all flights from tomorrow until 28 March.
- Brussels Airlines will temporarily suspend all flights from Saturday, 21 March until 19 April.
- The remaining flight programmes worldwide have been reduced very significantly.

Developments are currently too dynamic to anticipate them fully. We will keep you up to date with daily changes to our flight schedule on our website www.lufthansa-cargo.com and our Twitter channel @Lufthansa_Cargo. Via our API interface getRoutes, our eServices App, as well as our network page, we keep you up to date on the connections that can currently be booked.
If already booked shipments are affected by flight cancellations or changes, they will be automatically cancelled or rebooked. You can call up information on the current status at any time in our eTracking system. We ask for your understanding for these measures and apologise for any inconvenience caused. Your local Lufthansa Cargo team will be happy to help you with any questions you may have.

+++17 March 2020, 17:11 CET+++

We are doing everything we can to keep our freighter connections stable. However, the extensive changes within our network of passenger flights have a direct impact on the available additional cargo capacities. In order to compensate for these shortfalls, changes in the usage of our cargo aircraft are also likely in the coming days.

The developments are currently too dynamic to fully anticipate them. We will keep you informed about daily changes to our flight schedule on our website www.lufthansa-cargo.com and our Twitter channel @Lufthansa_Cargo. Via our API interface getRoutes, our eServices App, as well as our network page, we keep you up to date on the connections that can currently be booked.

There is currently a special flight schedule to mainland China. It includes five weekly connections from Frankfurt (FRA) to Shanghai (PVG), two to Beijing (PEK) and one to Chengdu (CTU) and back. A total of three additional services will also be offered to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in March. It is not possible to book cargo couriers on these routes.

Freighter services to North America have been increased by five connections this week. The airports Chicago (ORD), New York (JFK) and Atlanta (ATL) will be served more frequently. In return, services to Africa (JNB, NBO) and South America (VCP, CWB) have been reduced.

The express products BXD and BXO cannot currently be booked on passenger flights.

Live animals (AVI) will not be accepted for transport until further notice.

+++

We will keep you up to date with daily changes to our flight schedule on our website www.lufthansa-cargo.com and our Twitter channel @Lufthansa_Cargo. Via our API interface getRoutes, our eServices App, as well as our network page, we keep you up to date on the connections that can currently be booked. We ask for your understanding for the necessary restrictions.

+++16 March 2020, 17:11 CET+++

Freighter connections

Lufthansa Cargo's freighters are basically operating on schedule worldwide, including the USA.

However, a special flight schedule currently applies to connections to and from mainland China. Until 31 March 2020, the following weekly schedule will apply, subject to further adjustments:

Sunday

LH8400

Frankfurt (FRA) 10:55 UTC – Shanghai (PVG) 23:20 UTC
via Novosibirsk (OVB)

Monday

LH8401

Shanghai (PVG) 01:35 UTC – Frankfurt (FRA) 14:55 UTC
via Novosibirsk (OVB)

LH8400

Frankfurt (FRA) 10:55 UTC – Shanghai (PVG) 23:20 UTC
via Novosibirsk (OVB)

Tuesday

LH8401

Shanghai (PVG) 01:35 UTC – Frankfurt (FRA) 14:55 UTC
via Novosibirsk (OVB)

LH8430

Frankfurt (FRA) 07:20 UTC – Beijing (PEK) 19:05 UTC
via Novosibirsk (OVB)

LH8431

Beijing (PEK) 21:25 UTC – Frankfurt (FRA) 09:25+1 UTC
via Novosibirsk (OVB)

Wednesday

LH8404

Frankfurt (FRA) 05:40 UTC – Shanghai (PVG) 18:05 UTC
via Novosibirsk (OVB)

LH8405

Shanghai (PVG) 20:35 UTC – Frankfurt (FRA) 09:35+1 UTC
via Novosibirsk (OVB)

Thursday

LH8400

Frankfurt (FRA) 10:55 UTC – Shanghai (PVG) 23:20 UTC
via Novosibirsk (OVB)

Friday

LH8401

Shanghai (PVG) 01:35 UTC – Frankfurt (FRA) 14:55 UTC
via Novosibirsk (OVB)

LH8400

Frankfurt (FRA) 10:55 UTC – Shanghai (PVG) 23:20 UTC
via Novosibirsk (OVB)

LH8430

Frankfurt (FRA) 06:30 UTC – Beijing (PEK) 17:40 UTC
via Novosibirsk (OVB)

LH8431

Beijing (PEK) 20:00 UTC – Frankfurt (FRA) 08:00+1 UTC
via Novosibirsk (OVB)

Saturday

LH8401

Shanghai (PVG) 01:35 UTC – Frankfurt (FRA) 14:55 UTC
via Novosibirsk (OVB)

LH8410

Frankfurt (FRA) 07:15 UTC – Chengdu (CTU) 18:55 UTC
via Novosibirsk (OVB)

LH8411

Chengdu (CTU) 21:05 – Frankfurt (FRA) 09:15+1 UTC
via Novosibirsk (OVB)

The special flight schedule is continuously updated according to the latest developments. Freighter flights to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKG) will continue to operate according to schedule. Three additional services to Hong Kong Airport (HKG) and back are also planned for March:

Sunday, 8 March / 15 March / 22 March

LH8462

Frankfurt (FRA) 04:50 UTC - Hong Kong (HKG) 19:50 UTC
via Sharjah (SHJ)

LH8463

Hong Kong (HKG) 22:35 UTC - Frankfurt (FRA) 15:45+1 UTC
via Sharjah (SHJ)

The safety of our crews is of paramount importance to us. In order to be able to serve the Chinese market, Lufthansa Cargo has therefore taken extensive precautionary measures. Crew deployment on routes to China is voluntary. In addition, changes in entry regulations, for example, could restrict the feasibility of this at short notice. For this reason, publication of flights to mainland China must always be subject to reservations.

The express service BXO and the express capacity guarantee is available again since 2 March 2020 on these routes. It is currently not possible to book cargo couriers on the routes to and from China and Hong Kong airport.

Other flight schedule changes within the Lufthansa Group

Due to the special situation in connection with the so-called coronavirus, there are currently various changes in the Lufthansa Group's passenger flight offerings. Changes or cancellations are taking place both in the long-haul offering and in the short- and medium-haul network of the passenger airlines, and these changes or cancellations will also apply to the belly capacity of these flights. 

Lufthansa Group passenger airlines will continue to fly to the USA: Chicago, Newark and Washington will remain in the programme, and a special flight schedule will be drawn up shortly. In addition, all other passenger flights to and from the United States will be suspended until further notice due to U.S. administration restrictions, including all departures from Munich, Düsseldorf and Geneva. The Lufthansa Group will continue to fly to all destinations in Canada until further notice.

The effects of the changed entry regulations for India are currently being evaluated.

The latest status of passenger flight connections can be found at www.lh.com, www.austrian.com, www.eurowings.com, www.brusselsairlines.com and www.sunexpress.com. In addition, Lufthansa Cargo customers can also use the API interface getRoutes or our network website to find out about all currently bookable connections.

Until further notice, the air cargo services BXO and BXD cannot be booked on passenger aircraft.

Due to the frequent changes of entry regulations in connection with SARS-CoV-2, the probability of short-term flight plan changes is high. Therefore, live animals (AVI) will no longer be accepted for transport by Lufthansa Cargo with immediate effect. In view of possible delays in transport, we are taking animal welfare into account with this decision.

If a shipment is affected by flight cancellations or changes, it will be rebooked automatically. Information on the current status can be retrieved at any time in our eTracking system. We ask for your understanding for these measures and apologise for any inconvenience caused. Your local Lufthansa Cargo team will be happy to help you with any questions you may have.