Celebrations to mark the ten-year milestone for Lufthansa Cargo’s Frankfurt Animal Lounge included customers and partners at the Opel Zoo. Sören Stark, Board Member Operations and COO of Lufthansa Cargo, gave thanks to the carrier’s loyal customers in his address. “Our highly trained employees, who provide for our animal guests every day with an incredible amount of dedication, passion and experience, are crucial to the excellent reputation of the Frankfurt Animal Lounge,” he said.
Jörg Bodenröder, Senior Director of Handling Specials at Lufthansa Cargo, commented on the wide variety of creatures accommodated to date. “Many exotic species have already flown with us. From giraffes and hippopotamuses through to Mesopotamian fallow deer, Lufthansa has reliably risen to every logistical challenge to date."
The Animal Lounge is also particularly well equipped for horses, with forty-two large animal stalls and around 28 square metres of ground space. Around 2,000 horses pass through the centre annually.
Additionally, the centre is equipped with 39 small animal boxes to cater to the 15,000 cats and dogs that pass through each year. Feline visitors also benefit from three separate quiet zones.
The 4,000 square metre Frankfurt Animal Lounge offers handling, animal co-ordination and veterinary services under one roof, where 50 employees ensure round-the-clock care.
Special design elements of the facility include a non-slip asphalt floor, which is more comfortable for animals and people than concrete flooring. Meanwhile, the export, import and transit areas are all physically separated to avoid contact between animals being exported and imported, and the individual areas can be subdivided into multiple zones. Besides this, 18 individually adjustable climate-controlled chambers are available for different species and four special aviaries are also available.