Lufthansa Group Flies Athletes, Sports Equipment to Rio 2016 Olympics

Lufthansa, the official airline of the German Olympic team and co-partner of the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB), flew the German team to the Summer Olympics in Rio the Janeiro on August 1.

For the official farewell at Frankfurt Airport, Gate C14 had been specially decked out as the “Olympic gate”. The Boeing B747-8 with flight number LH500 took off from Frankfurt at 22:15 and landed at its final destination in Rio de Janeiro at 05:05 local time. The 80-person delegation included the European handball champions and other top athletes from the sports of cycling, dressage, sailing, beach volleyball and shooting.

On the same day, SWISS, together with Swiss Olympic and numerous fans, said farewell to the Swiss Olympic delegation in a formal ceremony held at Zurich Airport. SWISS is the official airline and partner of Swiss Olympic and the Swiss Paralympic team and operated a special flight to Rio de Janeiro for them.

Moreover, before and after the Olympics, Lufthansa Cargo will send a total of five freighters to Brazil to transport sports gear, broadcasting equipment and further items required on site. On July 10 and 17 respectively, an MD-11F flew to Rio de Janeiro. Three freighters will bring the loads back to Frankfurt on August 24, 25 and 26.

Even LSG Sky Chefs are gearing up to handle additional orders that will arise due to the increased number of flights to Rio de Janeiro. While the local catering facility produces around 6,000 flight meals on an ordinary day, this figure is expected to rise to between 25,000 and 30,000 per day during the Olympics. This additional production will involve extra staff and equipment for cooling and transport.

Dr. Bettina Volkens, Chief Human Resources and Legal Officer of Deutsche Lufthansa AG

“Lufthansa wishes the athletes successful and, above all, fair competitions”, says Dr. Bettina Volkens, Chief Human Resources and Legal Officer of Deutsche Lufthansa AG. “For Lufthansa, the topic of sports and the promotion of young talents have been important for many years, and we are pleased that we are once again able to make our contribution this year”.