A total of 7.2 billion freight tonne kilometers were sold last year (previous year: 6.5 billion). The average load factor improved by 1.7 percentage points year-on-year to 71.0%, while the available capacity increased by 8.7% to 10.1 billion available freight tonne-kilometres.

"We owe this result in particular to our employees, customers and partners. Together, we managed to effectively maintain global supply chains even during the pandemic. In addition to the good revenue, the successful completion of our cost-cutting program was a key factor in the good result. In 2022, we will continue to invest in customer focus, airfreight innovation and sustainability," said Dorothea von Boxberg, CEO of Lufthansa Cargo.

"2022 will continue to be characterized by sustainability at Lufthansa Cargo. This year, we are also focusing on the continuous decarbonization of air freight logistics. We are pleased to welcome numerous interested parties to our Sustainable Aviation Fuel offerings and want to expand the use of sustainable aviation fuels with various customers. In 2022, we will also start equipping our freighters with Sharkskin technology, which will help us to save fuel. In the area of digitalization, we are working at full speed on the transition to fully electronic air waybills, among other things."

However, Dorothea von Boxberg is also preparing customers for ongoing challenges in logistics for the time being: "The issue of scarce capacity will continue to occupy us and our customers this year. With the recently launched marketing of the capacities of our first A321 freighter, we want to offer customers new options for the ever-growing e-commerce sector, particularly in the medium-haul segment. Belly capacities on Lufthansa Group airlines will also increase significantly again this year. We are currently examining further options to increase our capacity offering. At the moment, however, we also see that the situation in airfreight remains dynamic and that we have to react quickly to developments on the global market and remain flexible."

Last year, Lufthansa Cargo successfully implemented important projects in line with its corporate strategy. For example, the fleet modernization to a pure, highly efficient B777F freighter fleet was completed. This currently comprises fifteen aircraft, two of which were refloated last year. The twin-engine Boeing 777F is considered the most efficient, modern freighter aircraft in its class. Lufthansa Cargo also distributes the belly capacities of Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Eurowings Discover and SunExpress. In 2021, Lufthansa Cargo also focused on sustainable aviation fuels: In addition to weekly CO2-neutral cargo rotations between Europe and Asia, customers have been able to use the "Sustainable Choice" add-on service since last summer and thus have their cargo transported CO2-neutrally. Lufthansa Cargo also became a pilot customer for the first industrial power-to-liquid (PtL) plant to promote the development of and research into synthetic PtL aviation fuel.

Lufthansa Cargo started the past financial year with positive expectations. Due to the ongoing effects of the pandemic, freight capacities remained tight worldwide despite increased demand. Influenced by a noticeable slowdown in the air freight market before the coronavirus pandemic, the cargo airline had already launched a structural cost-cutting program in 2019, which also contributed to the current result.