While the transportation of Covid-19 vaccines was already possible with Lufthansa Cargo, the company is now launching an additional premium service specially tailored to the transportation of COVID-19 vaccines. The offer, called COVID-19 Temp Premium, can be booked from 11 January 2021 and offers personalized customer service along the transport chain, including seamless monitoring of vaccine shipments and 24/7 after-sales support. In addition, Covid-19 Temp Premium includes high-priority capacity access at Lufthansa Cargo's fastest speed in combination with temperature control and a security concept and can be booked throughout the Lufthansa Cargo network.

There are basically three temperature ranges (based on the ambient temperature) available for the transportation of pharmaceuticals in air freight: Controlled room temperature for shipments with a transportation temperature range of +15°C to +25°C, refrigerated storage for shipments with a transportation temperature range of +2°C to +8°C and deep-freeze storage for shipments with a transportation temperature range of -10°C or below. By using special refrigerated containers and refrigerants, such as dry ice, the various requirements of pharmaceutical manufacturers can be met. Lufthansa Cargo, for example, also has experience with transportation in the ultra-low temperature range (-70°C).

The specific requirements of the various COVID-19 vaccines in terms of packaging, transportation, handling and storage, and what quantities are to be transported on which transport routes and over what periods of time, are still partly unclear. The transport routes of the vaccines depend largely on the future production sites of the approved vaccines and the respective recipient markets. With its freighter fleet of currently 18 aircraft, Lufthansa Cargo is able to react flexibly to shifts in demand. If necessary, the provision of additional belly capacity can also be examined.