By  Kenneth Ehigiator
Lufthansa’s cargo unit denied a report that it was considering permanently grounding several of its 19 MD-11 cargo planes.
The company has grounded three of its planes and plans to ground a fourth from October 1 in response to a drop in demand.
Air cargo companies have been buffeted by spending curbs by businesses amid the global economic crisis.

Industry body, IATA, has said it expects global airlines to lose $11 billion this year on weak passenger and cargo demand.
“We have no plans to permanently take freighters out of our fleet,” a spokesman for the company said last weekend. German daily Handelsblatt had earlier cited unnamed sources as saying Lufthansa Cargo was considering shrinking its fleet.

Handelsblatt also cited Lufthansa Cargo’s Chief Executive, Carsten Spohr, as saying the German flagship carrier’s unit was not considering shutting down its own fleet altogether.

“I don’t want to imagine that Lufthansa Cargo’s own fleet goes to zero,” he was cited as saying.
Lufthansa has forecast a full-year operating loss for its cargo business and has said it could also post a loss in its passenger airlines if it cannot cut costs fast enough.

The airline said in an employee newsletter it was shutting down the fleet of about 45 planes seating 50 passengers each operated by regional carriers CityLine and Eurowings faster than planned as costs per seat sold were higher than on other planes.