newstodate.aero

Oct 04, 2022 (newstodate): Lufthansa Cargo is to expand its new short-haul freighter network served with Airbus A321F aircraft.
   Lufthansa Cargo launched the regional cargo network in March 2022  with its first A321 freighter, operated by Lufthansa subsidiary CityLine, an intra-European passenger carrier.  
   The new service is primarily targeting the e-commerce market with routes from Frankfurt to destinations in Europe and North Africa, including Cairo, Egypt, Malta and Tunis, Tunisia.
   Among the new routes to be served from Frankfurt is also Norway's Evenes Airport starting from November 2, 2022, with one weekly rotation.
   The operation by Lufthansa Cargo brings back freighter services to Evenes Airport in the county's northernmost part, close to major seafood production sites.
  Starting from December 14, 2020, Qatar Airways was operating cargo flights from Evenes in northern Norway to Doha lifting seafood exports to Asia, followed from February 3, 2021, by Virgin Atlantic with two weekly flights from Evenes to London Heathrow using Boeing 787-9 aircraft to lift seafood belly cargo into Virgin's route network in London with onward transfer to the US market, later changed to direct US-bound flights from Evenes.
   However, Qatar Airways suspended operations at Evenes from November 2022, and Virgin Atlantic pulled out from summer 2021.
   Evenes Airport has not, however, abandoned its hopes to see freighter operations returning.
   Speaking at the recent seafood air logistics conference in Oslo, the key driver behind the plans, Stig Winther, Perishable Center Nord CEO, reiterated that sustained efforts are being made to source commitments from the industry to see freighter traffic to lift seafood returning.
   -Actually, we did manage to lift 4,500 tonnes of seafood out of the airport in 2021 destined for Asian and North American destinations, and we are in talks with airlines to convince them of the business opportunities, said Mr Winther.