Lufthansa to launch scheduled passenger flights using biofuel

Lufthansa is to launch the world’s first ever scheduled commercial passenger flights using biofuel in the first half of 2011, with an IAE (International Aero Engines) powered Airbus A321 aircraft.

The daily flights between Hamburg and Frankfurt, will use a biofuel blend made from 50% Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO). When it is consumed, fuel made from bio-mass material emits the CO2 it naturally absorbs when it grows, thereby helping neutralize overall CO2 emissions.

The daily flights will begin in April 2011 and will initially continue for a period of six months as part of the ‘Burn Fair’ R&T project to study the long term impact of sustainable biofuels on aircraft performance. Airbus will provide technical assistance and will monitor the fuel properties.

“We see great opportunities in the use of bio-synthetic kerosene. But we are first gathering experience with it in daily practice. Indeed, Lufthansa is the world’s first airline to utilise biofuel in flight operations. This is a further consistent step in the sustainability strategy, which Lufthansa has for years been successfully pursuing,” said Wolfgang Mayrhuber, Lufthansa CEO.

The biofuel is being provided by Finland based Neste Oil, under a long term agreement with Lufthansa. The fuel will only be produced from sustainable feedstock sources to make sure that the bio-feedstock does not compete for food, water nor land. In addition Neste Oil are members of RSB (Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels) and RSPO (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil).

Lufthansa needs more cargo freighters by 2015

Reuters: German airline Lufthansa’s cargo unit will need extra capacity equivalent to six MD-11 freighters by 2015 to meet rising demand, particularly growth into and out of Asia.

Among sectors, the pharmaceutical industry, a major customer for Lufthansa Cargo, will grow around the world in coming years, the cargo unit’s management board member Andreas Otto told reporters.

Lufthansa Cargo plans to establish a pharmaceutical transport hub in Hyderabad, India, to help meet demand, he said, adding the business cannot rely on gaining capacity via growth of Lufthansa’s passenger airlines because new A380 superjumbos add more seat capacity than room for freight.

Lufthansa’s cargo unit transports about half of its freight in the cargo hold of passenger planes.

The Asia-Pacific region accounts for almost half the annual volume of air cargo of about 20 million tonnes. China and Hong Kong alone contribute almost 4 million tonnes.

On average, Lufthansa Cargo will need the equivalent of one more MD-11 freighter per year through 2015, Otto said.

Lufthansa Cargo, one of Europe’s two biggest air freight carriers along with Air France-KLM <AIRF.PA>, has 18 MD-11 freighters, each with a capacity of just over 90 tonnes.

Otto said it was not yet clear whether Lufthansa Cargo would buy new planes, convert Lufthansa passenger planes into freighters, or lease capacity.

“We are talking about six MD-11 equivalents. That does not mean that we are buying six more MD-11s. That is something we currently have to work out,” he said, adding the carrier would seek approval to add capacity next year.

Otto said he saw supply in the cargo industry falling short of demand by 5 percent by 2014, recovering from overcapacity during the global economic crisis. Air cargo companies were buffeted last year as companies reined in spending to weather the downturn. Global cargo demand fell by 11 percent in 2009, according to industry body International Air Transport Association (IATA).

IATA said last week that freight traffic, which accounts for 35 percent of the value of goods traded internationally, was now 1 percent above pre-crisis levels of early 2008.