Things are happening over at Lufthansa

The Lufthansa Group made headlines in the past week with 3 reports.Firstly, Lufthansa Cargo announced the acquisition of another A321 freighter. It is the fourth in the carrier’s short and medium-haul fleet.This was followed by a release in which the Lufthansa Group informs of its joining Airbus’ ‘Carbon Removal’ initiative which benefits the climate but is technically highly ambitious.Finally, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed by Lufthansa and eVOL provider, Lilium, to better feed passengers into the carrier’s major hubs using electrically powered aircraft.CargoForwarder Global sheds light on all three topics:

Lufthansa Cargo’s 4th A321F bears the name ‘¡Hola España!’ on the fuselage. It can accommodate up to 28 tons per flight  –  courtesy LH Cargo

Fourth A321-P2F added to Lufthansa Cargo’s fleet
Lufthansa Cargo took delivery of its first A321 freighter on 15MAR22. It is operated by Munich-based Lufthansa City Line, but marketed by the Frankfurt-headquartered cargo carrier. Just 8 months later, at the end of November, the carrier welcomed its fourth leased A321P2F: ‘¡Hola España!’ (reg: D-AEUJ) arrived and has already commenced commercial operations within the carrier’s regional network.

With now four A321 freighters in its fleet, each capable of accommodating up to 28 tons per flight, “we will serve 18 destinations in the short- and medium-haul network on more than 32 weekly flights” says Ashwin Bhat, CEO of Lufthansa Cargo. The executive added to this that high demand coupled with positive customer feedback confirms the carrier’s strategy to further expand its transport capacity. Since the start of the winter flight schedule, three new destinations have been added to the A321 fleet’s flight program: Amman, Jordan / Stockholm Arlanda, Sweden / and Stavanger, Norway. “We are constantly evaluating our network to create and adapt new capacities,” states Mr. Bhat.

There  are currently no plans to acquire any further conversions of this Airbus variant, stated Lufthansa Cargo Head of Communications and Marketing, Nicole Mies, in response to an inquiry.

Instead, the carrier’s intercontinental fleet of Boeing B777F is expected to grow from 16 to 18 units during Q1, 2024.  The expansion of the feeder network shortens the transit times of shipments addressed to customers in North or Latin America, or the Far East.

Lufthansa joins Airbus’ carbon capture initiative
Two further trailblazing announcements have come from the headquarters of the Frankfurt-based Lufthansa Group. Firstly, Lufthansa and its affiliates, Swiss, Austrian Airlines, Lufthansa Cargo, Eurowings, and others, have joined the ‘Direct Air Carbon Capture and Storage’ (DACCS) project pushed forward by aircraft manufacturer, Airbus. In this process, CO2 is filtered out of the air and then deposited to neutralize its climate-harming effects. One option is to use the carbon gas to scale up the production of much needed Sustainable Aviation Fuels.

However, the technology is still in its infancy. This is demonstrated by tests conducted in Iceland. The biggest obstacle: an enormous amount of energy is needed to operate a large plant. This is not a major problem for Iceland, as the volcano-ridden country has plenty of geothermal springs that can be utilized. In contrast, Europe and most other regions do not possess these geothermal resources. So, they have to siphon off energy from other sources to capture greenhouse gases on a large scale. Hence, it cannot be ruled out that the net result of carbon capture is rather sobering if major plants are powered with energy based on conventional sources, i.e. oil or gas.

The devil is in the details
Another unsolved issue is the storing of the captured gases. In an Airbus presentation, they are pressed into the spoil. An option is to store them in saline reservoirs or in cavities under the seabed. But this requires approval from the authorities and, above all, social acceptance.

Taken together, there are still many technical, infrastructural, and social issues that have to be straightened out before the first ton of captured CO2 can be deposited. Airbus partner, 1PointFive, names 2025 as the target year. The Houston, Texas-based company is currently building a large demonstration plant in the U.S., in close cooperation with another partner.

The entire process will be financed by carbon credits. “A carbon credit is issued for every single ton of CO2 that is saved or removed from the atmosphere. By purchasing these certificates, a company can offset unavoidable CO2 emissions,” Lufthansa spokesperson, Anne Hahn, illustrates the financial pillar of the project.

The Lufthansa Group has signed a contract with Airbus on the pre-purchase of verified and durable carbon-removal credits of 40,000 tons of CO2. The carbon-removal credits will be issued by Airbus through its Airbus Carbon Capture Offer (ACCO) service. In addition, the Lufthansa Group has secured additional carbon-removal credits of 10,000 tons of CO2 for four years. “We do not provide any financial details,” said Ms. Hahn when being asked by CargoForwarder Global. 

What looks simple on the graphic is highly complex in reality – courtesy Airbus

Lufthansa partners with Lilium
The third news from Lufthansa forwarded last week, was the signing of a MoU with eVTOL provider, Lilium. The aim is to use the Vertical Take-Off and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft developed by Lilium for passenger shuttles to and from major airports. In doing so, both companies intend to explore innovation opportunities in aviation, discussing areas such as ground and flight operations, future aircraft maintenance, as well as crewing and flight training. In a possible strategic partnership, Lilium and Lufthansa also want to analyze the opportunities for collaboration with third parties such as airports and regional partners, for instance on the advancement of infrastructure such as vertiports, airspace integration and the definition of required operation processes.

Lufthansa does not provide any information on the financing of this project either. 

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