The first flight via the new route took place on June 1st, from Tokyo via Krasnoyarsk to Frankfurt. Later, flights to and from China will be made via Siberia.
On completion of the relocation, freight to the previous location of Astana will only be transported aboard Lufthansa Passage flights. However, Lufthansa Cargo will continue to have a presence in Kazakhstan with its cargo flights to Almaty.
According to Carsten Spohr, chairman of Lufthansa Cargo's executive board, the new stopover in Krasnoyarsk cuts flying time to the Far East by an average of about twelve minutes per flight, which will result in an annual saving of around 2,000 tons of kerosene.
Krasnoyarsk Airport's instrument landing system has been upgraded from CAT I to CAT II, allowing for uninterrupted airport usage in bad weather.
In other news, Lufthansa Cargo and its workers continue to campaign for a practicable night flight regulation at Frankfurt Airport.
"Frankfurt Airport is one of the most important airfreight hubs in the world thanks to its central geographical location, its outstanding intermodal networking and its infrastructure which has developed over the long term," said Willi Roerig, chairman of the Central Workers' Council of Lufthansa Cargo, adding that a ban on night flights at the seventh largest freight airport in the world would cut Germany off from the international goods flows and result in the relocation of production and logistics companies.
This week, the State of Hesse's Higher Administrative Court in Kassel will be hearing objections to the Planfeststellungsbeschluss on the expansion of Frankfurt Airport, and, in particular, about a possible ban on night flights.
Meanwhile, Lufthansa Cargo has deferred a multimillion investment in a new logistics centre at Frankfurt Airport until a decision on night flights has been made.
