Lufthansa received its first freighter in 13 years, a Boeing 777F, in November 2013 - "a very emotional moment for us," Andreas Otto, member of the executive board, product and sales, admitted as he showed a video of the inaugural flight to JFK at a cargo media briefing in Frankfurt. The second in a series of five 777s is already with the carrier, with the third arriving in early March and the fourth set for delivery in August.

By the latter date, Lufthansa will have to decide whether to exercise its option for five more of the type.

"The 777 is the best cargo aircraft in the industry but also most expensive, so it's a question of how many our shareholders will let us have," Otto said. "No European operator can fly anything except the 777 profitably with prices higher than $80-90 per barrel."

Read Full Article