Getting Roses This Valentine’s Day?   You Might Be Surprised As To Who Made It Possible!

Getting Roses This Valentine’s Day? You Might Be Surprised As To Who Made It Possible!

For those of you that will end tomorrow with a bouquet or vase full of Roses, you might have more than your sweetheart to thank.

According to numbers coming out of Frankfurt, LUFTHANSA CARGO will be responsible for bringing 800 tons of Roses from various sources from around the world.   That’s 1.6 million pounds worth of flowers being hauled by Lufthansa Cargo’s fleet this week!   To put it another way, these roses are enough to fill 11 MD-11 freighters.

What caught me by surprise is where these roses are coming from.   Most are sourced in Kenya or from several countries in South America where growing conditions at this time of year are ideal.

During their trip, they are packaged in temperature controlled containers and are taken directly from the growers and loaded onto LH Cargo aircraft.   Once in Frankfurt, the logistics take over and ensure that millions of roses find their way into the hands of those who will enjoy them.

When you stop to buy flowers tomorrow, take a second and think about all the work (and jet fuel) that went into making you look like a hero……

 

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Now Anyone Can Ship Items With Lufthansa Cargo

Now Anyone Can Ship Items With Lufthansa Cargo

Lufthansa Cargo has announced a new program designed for anyone to ship nearly anything between Europe and the USA and have LH Cargo take care of all the details such as Freight Forwarding, Customs, etc.

With myAirCargo, Lufthansa Cargo creates a turn-key solution that allows you to have large items not only shipped by LH Cargo, but also has LH Cargo taking care of customs and duty process of your shipment.    The program is ideal for those who have 1 or 2 large pieces that they would like to ship to somewhere in the world that normal postal services could not accommodate.

The program opens up new avenues of opportunity for LH Cargo to expand their business to new customers, in alignment with their ‘Cargo Evolution’ strategy.

For example, you want to spend some time touring the Alps on your Harley next Spring…..you can now arrange LH Cargo to ship your bike to Europe ahead of your trip and have it waiting there for you to pick up.   Or you’re on vacation in Venice and you decide to buy a Gondola, you can arrange for LH Cargo to send it to your home in Albuquerque.

Usually shipping something on such a small scale was not easy to do, or would require you to hire a broker or agency to ship your items and the costs would usually outweigh any benefit of the item you’re shipping.   With the new program, LH Cargo takes care of the entire process. Working with their partners to ensure quick and safe passage for your shipment.    As a result, it is easier for you to arrange for the shipping of the product, and it will cost less to do it.   Consider this program something akin to UPS or Fedex for really big items.

Their website, myAirCargo.com, makes it easy to process your shipment since there are only 5 steps involved.    Once you provide the details of your shipment and other info such as addresses, values, and shipment dates, you’ll be able to pay for your shipment online and let LH Cargo do the rest.   The ordering process will let you know if local pick up or delivery is available for your item, or if you’ll need to arrange for it to be delivered or picked up from an airport.

The initial rollout of the program covers shipping between the US and Europe, but plans call for a world-wide rollout of the program in the coming months.


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Cargo Human Care Helps Bring Christmas Spirit

Cargo Human Care Helps Bring Christmas Spirit

A few weeks ago I wrote about the great work being done by Cargo Human Care (CHC), an organization made up primarily of Lufthansa Cargo colleagues who dedicate their time and effort to help those in need.

CHC’s efforts focus primarily on Mothers’ Mercy Home, an Orphanage and Medical Clinic in Kenya where over the years they have helped the organization care for and raise hundreds of Kenyan children.  CHC does this by flying supplies, doctors, nurses, dentists and others aboard LH Cargo aircraft so that the aid can be delivered personally.

Over the Christmas season, Mother’s Mercy took time to celebrate the holiday by treating their children to a festive celebration that included a large group dinner and the gifting of presents to the kids.  This was made possible largely in part by the CHC volunteers and those who support their cause by providing donations of time and funds to help the organization.

My contacts at CHC provided me with photos from the celebration and asked me to share them with you so that you can see what your efforts are bringing to these deserving children.

Young children were given gifts that included Pajamas and Backpacks, while older children (Aged 13-18) were given packages filled with hats, belts, handbags, and books.

From the looks of the photos it looks like a great time was had by all!

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Now Anyone Can Ship Items With Lufthansa Cargo

Fantastic Documentary Of Lufthansa Cargo 777 Delivery Flight AND Special Offer!!

Earlier this year, Lufthansa Cargo received the last of their 5 777 Freighters (D-ALFE) and to mark the special occasion, LH commissioned PilotsEYE.tv to create a documentary that would capture the experience.

PilotsEYE.tv is an awarding winning team that specializes in capturing rare, behind the scenes footage of airlines in a way most of can only imagine.  Their access to all of the ‘good stuff’ is truly impressive and it reflects in their documentaries!

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The PilotsEYE.tv crew at work at Boeing

 

The 100 minute documentary takes us behind the scenes at Boeing, showing D-ALFE in her various stages of final assembly as well as fantastic footage from aboard her delivery flight to Frankfurt and interviews with the pilots.  The video also  gives us a rare front row seat to the delivery meeting where Lufthansa pays for the aircraft.    Amazing how quickly hundreds of millions of dollars can change bank accounts! 🙂

As an additional ‘bonus’ they included some of my personal footage from my ‘secret spotting spot’ capturing D-ALFE being moved from one part of the factory to another in preparation for final assembly.   Don’t believe me?  Check the credits at the end! 🙂

To learn more about the video, including additional footage that is included,  please visit the PilotsEYE.tv webpage for this documentary.

 

Now for the special offer……

 

Normally the video is available for purchase for online viewing or DVD and costs €29.95 on Amazon.de, Amazon.uk and various bookstores and video retailers in Germany.

However, PilotsEYE.tv has offered LufthansaFlyer readers a coupon code good for 50% off of the video when ‘renting’ it through Vimeo.   Normally, the cost would be $18.90, but by using code ‘LHF50’ you’ll save 50% off of the published rate.  The rental period through Vimeo lasts for 1 week and you can use this link to take you to the Vimeo webpage for this video.

Please note that the coupon code is limited to the first 30 purchases, so hurry before the coupon code disappears!

 


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CONFIRMED:  Lufthansa Bans Transport Of Game Hunting Trophies In Africa

CONFIRMED: Lufthansa Bans Transport Of Game Hunting Trophies In Africa

Yesterday I wrote a brief piece regarding some news I was hearing from reliable sources that Lufthansa Cargo had altered their policy on the transport of Hunting Trophies in Africa.  This involved a memo that apparently had been issued by LH Cargo’s manager in Johannesburg, South Africa.

After reaching out to my Lufthansa contacts last night, I was pleased to wake up to emails confirming yesterday’s suspicions.

Coming directly from Lufthansa Cargo, it is clear as to what LH’s updated policy is on the transport of Hunting Trophies in Africa:

EFFECTIVE MAY 30, 2015:

‘Lufthansa Cargo has decided not to transport any trophies of the African fauna, e.g. lions, elephants and rhinos, in or out of Africa – including legally hunted or legally acquired trophies.’

No longer is there the technicality regarding CITES policies that allows for export of some trophies if they are legally hunted.   As far as my language skills are concerned, I interpret the LH statement as covering a wide range of animals and the trophies will not fly aboard Lufthansa aircraft even if they were ‘taken’ legally.

This topic has been near and dear to me for quite some time and I’m happy to see that LH has joined the ranks of other airlines such as South Africa, Emirates and British Airways who also have policies in place that prevent this kind of transport.

To me, this looks like the beginning of a trend in the airline industry and if enough voices start calling for bans on Trophy transportation, airlines will have no choice but to listen.

Ideally,  these policies should become ‘Alliance’ policies where organizations like Star Alliance, Skyteam or OneWorld would require member airlines to adhere to a uniform set of rules when it comes to topics such as this.

It is interesting to note however that Delta came out with a ‘defiant’ statement recently indicating that they will continue to transport hunting trophies in and out of Africa.  I wonder how long that lasts…..but I digress…..

For now, enjoy the fact that Lufthansa has listened to our voices and has taken steps necessary to play an important role in this important matter.


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