Lufthansa Cargo ends MD-11 freighter operations

Lufthansa Cargo retired its last MD-11(F) on October 17, 2021, thus completing its fleet rollover to Boeing 777-200Fs.

D-ALCC (msn 48783) was originally scheduled to operate its last flight from Frankfurt Int’l to New York JFK and back on October 14-15, but was retained by the airline for one additional rotation due to high demand. It has been acquired by Western Global Airlines (KD, Fort Myers Southwest Florida) as one of seven ex-Lufthansa Cargo MD-11(F)s.

The 23.2-year-old freighter was the last of Lufthansa Cargo’s fleet of nineteen McDonnell Douglas trijets. The German cargo carrier started gradually retiring the type in 2010. As the deliveries of its B777-200Fs progressed, it said that the MD-11s would be phased out by the end of 2020. Shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic began, the airline said the rollover could be completed even earlier, in mid-2020. However, the pandemic and the related shortage of bellyhold capacity changed the fate of the MD-11(F)s. While most were retired by the end of 2020, Lufthansa Cargo kept five units active through 2021.

The carrier’s current fleet comprises eleven B777-200Fs with plans to add a further unit by the end of the year. The carrier also has access to some of the sixteen B777-200Fs operated by AeroLogic, a 50/50 joint venture of Lufthansa Cargo and DHL Express. It also plans to enter the narrowbody sector for the first time, albeit through an intra-group capacity wet-lease. Two A321-200(P2F)s will be operated for Lufthansa Cargo by Lufthansa CityLine (CL, Munich) starting in 2022.