On Tuesday, a Lufthansa Cargo Boeing 777F registered D-ALFH was officially named “Namaste India” at Mumbai airport. The freighter has been part of the Lufthansa Cargo fleet since August 2020.

Due to the Covid pandemic, the baptism ceremony had to be delayed. On May 31, the christening ceremony could take place before the departure of LH8361 from Mumbai to Frankfurt by Ashwin Bhat, Chief Commercial Officer at Lufthansa Cargo, and in the presence of J. Florian Pfaff, Vice President Asia Pacific at Lufthansa Cargo, customers and station employees.

Following the guiding principle “Say hello around the world”, Lufthansa Cargo has been naming its aircraft after its main markets within its global network since 2013. The respectful greeting “Namaste India”, which is widespread in Hindu culture, symbolizes the close connection between Lufthansa Cargo and India.

The cargo airline has had a long-standing relationship with customers in the Indian air cargo industry since 1959 and has grown further with its cargo operations since the 1970s. Lufthansa Cargo has continuously expanded its connections and capabilities. Currently, only Mumbai is served four times a week, Bangalore and Chennai twice a week from Frankfurt with B777F freighters. Additionally, there are other cargo capacities in passenger aircraft from Frankfurt and Munich to Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai. In 2021, Lufthansa Cargo transported almost 65,000 tonnes of cargo to and from India. In 2019 (pre-Covid), the overall annual volume of cargo transported to and from India was over 108,000 tons, using all its capacities.

“For decades, Lufthansa Cargo has been an important and reliable partner in India and for India. I am extremely happy to mark this partnership and achievement personally at this cargo christening ceremony in my hometown. Our aim is to continue to connect India with other markets across the globe and to support the strong development of the Indian economy.On a positive note, since the reopening of Indian airspace for commercial passenger flights in March 2022, we more than tripled the number of weekly passenger flights, we now offer a total of 32 weekly connections. options for our customers to transport their goods with the flexibility, reliability and quality that Lufthansa Cargo is known for. And there will be more to come says Ashwin Bhat, Commercial Director of Lufthansa Cargo.

Like the 15 aircraft in the Lufthansa Cargo fleet, the twin-engine Boeing 777F “Namaste India” (D-ALFH) is very fuel-efficient and thus makes an important contribution to reducing CO2 emissions. In addition, this type of aircraft meets the strict requirements of ICAO Annex 16, Volume I, Chapter 14 for noise protection.