Lufthansa Cargo lifts profit and capacity

Lufthansa Cargo has reported a stronger 2025 across profitability, capacity, and traffic, posting adjusted EBIT of €324 million, up 29 percent from €251 million a year earlier. Revenue rose 4 percent to €3.4 billion, while the adjusted EBIT margin improved to 9.5 percent from 7.7 percent. The carrier also increased available freight capacity by 5.4 percent to 14.45 billion freight tonne kilometres and lifted sales by 7 percent to 9.1 billion freight tonne kilometres.

The operational picture improved as well. Average load factor rose to 63 percent from 61.9 percent, and the company said delivery-on-time quality improved by 5 percentage points year on year. That gives the result a stronger shape than a simple rebound story, because it combines more capacity with better utilisation and service performance rather than relying on one of those levers alone.

Lufthansa Cargo said stable market demand and strong business in Asia supported the year, but network changes also played a large part. Ashwin Bhat, chief executive officer of Lufthansa Cargo, said the carrier was back “among the top 5 global air freight providers” in 2025, ahead of its internal timetable. The company had targeted a top-five position by the end of 2026 as an interim step in its plan to re-establish itself among the world’s top three cargo airlines by 2030.

Part of that expansion is now coming through partnership capacity as much as dedicated freighters. Since June 2025, Lufthansa Cargo has marketed the cargo capacity of ITA Airways, and since the winter schedule that has covered nearly the airline’s entire continental and intercontinental network, excluding routes to and from the US and Canada pending regulatory approval. Lufthansa Cargo says Rome has become its fifth hub and could increase global belly capacity by around 20 percent in the long term.

The company also widened its own network during the year. New A321 freighter destinations included Katowice, Rome, and Beirut, while freighter operations to Tel Aviv were resumed and increased. On long-haul lanes, Lufthansa Cargo added connections including Almaty and a Shanghai-to-Los Angeles freighter routing across the Pacific, alongside a broader Asia-Pacific and Americas offer.

That matters because the air cargo market is rewarding breadth and flexibility more than raw scale. Cargo carriers with enough network density to switch capacity, sell belly space intelligently, and keep specialised sectors moving are in a stronger position than operators still leaning too heavily on one geography or one aircraft type. Lufthansa Cargo also said it strengthened activity in pharma, automotive, aviation, and semiconductor traffic during 2025, widening the mix it can pull through that network.

Gregor Schleussner, chief financial officer and chief human resources officer of Lufthansa Cargo, said the carrier “also exceeded our margin target.” Lufthansa Group expects further revenue growth at Lufthansa Cargo in 2026, even as it warns that Middle East instability is increasing uncertainty across aviation and energy markets. For now, the numbers suggest the carrier’s mix of freighter discipline, belly expansion, and tighter cost control is working.