With the start of the winter flight schedule on 26 October 2025, the cooperation between Lufthansa Cargo and ITA Airways was further expanded: Cargo shipments are now also being transported under Lufthansa Cargo’s own AWB number 020 on flights originating in Rome-Fiumicino Airport. Within the last two weeks, more than 1,000 tons of freight have already been transported in the cargo hold of ITA Airways passenger aircraft. The cooperation between the two companies, which began in June on flights to Rome-Fiumicino Airport, is now almost fully implemented. Connections to and from the US and Canada are currently still excluded until regulatory approval has been obtained.
By adding additional routes from Rome, Lufthansa Cargo is expanding its range of belly capacities prospectively by around 20 percent. Rome-Fiumicino will serve as the fifth European hub alongside Frankfurt, Munich, Vienna, and Brussels. Customers will benefit from expanded routing options and greater flexibility in the intercontinental network. Effective immediately, up to 30 additional weekly cargo connections to South America (Buenos Aires EZE, Rio de Janeiro GIG, Sao Paulo GRU) and up to 21 additional flights per week to Asia (Bangkok BKK, New Delhi DEL, Tokyo-Haneda HND) are now available. In addition, seasonal connections from Rome to Mauritius (MRU) and Malé (MLE) are offered. Up to 71 weekly connections are available to and from North Africa (Algiers ALG, Cairo CAI, Accra ACC, Dakar DSS, Tunis TUN) and the Middle East (Dubai DXB, Riyadh RUH). Lufthansa Cargo’s new hub also expands its intra-European RFS and continental network and enables closer connections to the existing hubs in Frankfurt, Munich, Brussels and Vienna.
“Lufthansa Cargo’s first cargo shipment connections from Rome are an important milestone in the expansion of our global network for our customers. Our customers benefit not only from numerous new cargo connections around the world, but also from a powerful hub in southern Europe. This makes our network the broadest in Europe and once again underlines our ambition to offer our customers even better transport solutions in line with our purpose, ‘Enabling Global Business’,” explains Ashwin Bhat, CEO of Lufthansa Cargo.
The cooperation between ITA Airways and Lufthansa Cargo was agreed upon when the Lufthansa Group acquired a stake in the Italian airline. Since June, Lufthansa Cargo has been gradually marketing ITA Airways’ cargo capacities on various routes to further strengthen the Group-wide network and respond flexibly to changing market conditions.
