Bettina Petzold, a highly experienced cargo executive, is in the driver’s seat of the newly created Corporate Responsibility team, which includes Environmental Management. Its members’ main aim is to bundle and promote sustainability initiatives and bring them to the table within the Lufthansa Cargo cosmos, but also beyond the carrier’s borders. The core task is to support Lufthansa Cargo employees in their global commitment to sustainability activities and to increase customer involvement. Bettina Petzold and her team’s key motto is: Every action counts; the time of silo thinking in the industry should be over.
“Sustainable Choice”
Sustainability is an extremely broad field of action in aviation, which is why priorities must be determined by parties responsible for this topic, to avoid companies getting bogged down. One of Bettina’s key agenda items is to further increase the share of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) in order to further reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of Lufthansa Cargo’s Triple Seven freighter fleet. This also applies to the B777 freighters belonging to JV partner AeroLogic (50% DHL / 50% LHC) where six units are operated by the cargo crane. “We invite our customers to contribute to the decarbonization of air freight with our `Sustainable Choice´ add-on service. The optional service can easily be booked via the Lufthansa Cargo homepage. The service combines CO2 reduction through the use of SAF with compensation through the contribution to high-quality climate protection projects,” says the executive. Its success will certainly take more time, because SAF is currently still 3 to 4 times more expensive than Jet A-1 fuel, since supply keeps lacking demand.
All it takes is a click
Seen from the practical side, ‘Sustainable Choice’ allows shippers or forwarders to book a certain percentage of SAF after filling out the air waybill. In return, they receive official certificates documenting the emissions saved.
The offer is made to all customers, big or small, and seems to also be attractive for project business, states Bettina. “We would like to see even more penetration in the market and will be placing a strong focus on SAF this year.” Under the hashtag #Together for sustainability, a close exchange on the topic has begun, including initiatives for innovative projects or process optimizations.
SAF ‘Bulk’ offer
In addition to the digital add-on service, ‘Sustainable Choice’, individual ‘Bulk Offers’ are tailored to Lufthansa Cargo’s interested partners. The agreements are usually negotiated directly between Lufthansa Cargo and its global customers. Last year, Lufthansa Cargo concluded two major bulk deals with Danish logistics giant, Maersk, and the Chinese company, BSI, which is active along the entire value chain of the global transport and mobility sector.
Further measures
Further to this, Bettina emphasizes that Lufthansa Cargo strives for a maximum reduction of CO2 emissions in flight operations and relies on effective measures to achieve this. In addition to a modern fleet and the use of SAF, the focus is on continuous optimization of flight operations, for example through targeted fuel efficiency measures.
On the ground, the cargo airline is also taking steps towards achieving its goal of carbon neutrality by exploring new ways of reducing energy consumption, the use of fewer resources, and waste avoidance. Two targets achieved in 2024, were the change from carbon powered cars to electric vehicles operated by Lufthansa Cargo, and the recycling of defective and expired belts. The latter is a step that saves several tons of waste every year in Frankfurt.
