Luxembourg-Findel Airport is the largest airport in Luxembourg. In addition to the civil airline companies that fly to this airport, there is also a large cargo operator based at this airport. This airline is Cargolux Airlines S.A. In 1970, Cargolux Airlines International S.A. started its operations from its newly established home base at Luxembourg Airport. The company then started with a number of Canadair CL-44 cargo aircraft. Now more than 50 years later, Cargolux is one of the largest cargo airlines in Europe. The airline flies a fleet of modern Boeing 747-8 and 747-400 cargo freight aircraft. Cargolux has been a launching customer for the technologically advanced Boeing 747-8F. This latest version of the Boeing 747 was added to the fleet at the end of 2011. Cargolux was the world's first user of this version of the B747. As early as 1993, Cargolux had shown its pioneering spirit when it commissioned the world's first Boeing 747-400. Cargolux now offers extensive services. These services range from transporting everyday cargo to shipments requiring attention to detail requiring special handling and expert handling. Today the company literally flies all over the world with its cargo planes. The company specializes in transporting valuable and time-sensitive goods. In total, this airline from Luxembourg flies to more than 90 destinations. The Boeing 747 was designed from the beginning as a cargo plane. Cargo loading flexibility and operational efficiency are key components. The B747 has a large side cargo door and a nose that can be opened. Opening the entire nose section makes the B747 a unique aircraft in the world of civil cargo aircraft. The Boeing 747 can therefore be loaded quickly and easily and both heavy loads or loads with a large volume can be easily loaded and unloaded.
Cargolux Boeing 747s are easy to spot. The planes continue to have a smooth white fuselage and a large Cargolux emblem on the tail. Just behind the cockpit is the text Cargolux in black painted on the plane. Along the length of the fuselage there is a light blue and red band behind the text which, in combination with the white fuselage, represent the flag of Luxembourg. In addition to these standard color schemes, a number of special color schemes have also been applied to the aircraft. In this video the B747 with registration LX-VCM is visible. The aircraft lands at its home base Luxembourg-Findel Airport at the beginning of the evening. The LX-VCM bears the name “City of Rédange-sur-Attert”. It is a tradition in this company to name every aircraft with the name of a city in Luxembourg. This city is located in the west of Luxembourg close to the border with Belgium on the Attert River. Rédange-sur-Attert is the birthplace of Jean-Claude Juncker. He was formerly the President of the European Commission in Brussels and he is also the former Prime Minister of Luxembourg. The aircraft with the registration LX-VCM is the thirteenth Boeing 747-8F from Cargolux and was delivered to the company on September 28, 2015. This particular aircraft from Cargolux is painted in the so-called “Cutaway Livery”. This special color scheme has been created to celebrate the company's 45th anniversary. The diagram shows an exploded drawing that shows in a playful way what happens behind the scenes at Cargolux.
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