Aircraft D-ALCC, which was the last MD-11F registered in Europe touched down at Frankfurt Airport at 12.03pm on Sunday 17 October having arrived ahead of schedule from New York’s John F. Kennedy airport.
The MD-11F, which was greeted with a water arch from Frankfurt Airport's Fire Brigade when it touched down for the final time, will be sold to an American cargo airline.
Lufthansa Cargo took delivery of its first MD-11F in 1998 and operated 19, including the last ever manufactured and the last ever delivered.
Dorothea von Boxberg, Chair of the Executive Board and CEO of Lufthansa Cargo says: “The decisive factor for the introduction of the MD-11F at Lufthansa Cargo in the late nineties was its significantly better fuel efficiency compared to the widebody freighter previously used. In the future, we will rely on the twin-engine Boeing 777F for the same reason.”
The MD-11F is 61.4 metres long with a wingspan of 51.7 metres, and has a cargo capacity of up to 94.7 tonnes, divided into 26 positions on the main deck and up to 14 more on the lower deck.
Lufthansa Cargo has been gradually replacing MD-11Fs with quieter and more efficient B777Fs since November 2013.