The arrival at Rome Fiumicino airport on 17 June 2025 of the first Ita Airways flights carrying shipments managed by Lufthansa Cargo marks a new chapter in the partnership between the two airlines, following the Lufthansa Group’s acquisition of a stake in the Italian carrier. The flights had departed the previous day from Buenos Aires, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, positioning the Lazio airport as a European hub for goods arriving from or bound for South America. Flights AZ 681 from Buenos Aires, AZ 675 and AZ 679 from São Paulo and AZ 673 from Rio de Janeiro were transporting cargo marketed by Lufthansa Cargo but loaded into Ita Airways passenger aircraft holds.
The agreement initially allows Lufthansa Cargo to market the belly hold capacity on Ita Airways flights departing from South America to Rome, using its own air waybill code. With this step, Rome joins Frankfurt, Munich, Vienna and Brussels as the fifth European hub in Lufthansa Cargo’s freight network. Once the necessary regulatory approvals are obtained, the partnership will gradually extend to other continental and intercontinental Ita Airways routes.
Among the first customers to take advantage of this new opportunity is Jas Worldwide, a company founded in Milan in 1978 and now headquartered in Atlanta, which has booked shipments on the new connections. The company has also subscribed to the additional Sustainable Choice service, designed to reduce the environmental impact of air freight through the use of sustainable aviation fuel. Introduced earlier this year, the service is available not only for cargo flights but also for passenger aircraft holds managed by Lufthansa Cargo, enabling measurable reductions in CO2 emissions.
Alongside the launch of the new partnership with Ita Airways, Lufthansa Cargo has announced the introduction of an almost real-time proactive notification system. Customers are informed by email as soon as any changes occur in the transport plan, both before and after goods are accepted. In the event of flight cancellations or rerouting, the airline sends an updated booking confirmation with specific details of the changes and the reasons behind them. Messages are sent to the email addresses provided during the booking process, ensuring the information reaches all relevant parties directly.
