Gruber Logistics transports the historic Lockheed Super Star for Lufthansa to Frankfurt Airport
From 2026, the Lockheed L-1649A Super Star will be on display at the Lufthansa Group’s new conference and visitor center in Frankfurt am Main. Gruber Logistics, a specialist in out-of-gauge and heavy haulage transport, managed the flagship project for the prestigious airline, bringing the former flagship back to its “home” at Frankfurt Airport. The aircraft, part of the Lockheed Constellation family, was a masterpiece of aeronautical engineering in the 1950s. The transfer of the aircraft took place in two meticulously planned phases: in July, the fuselage, tail, and both wings were transported from Hamburg Airport to Münster/Osnabrück Airport; in August, the final move to Hesse followed. Using 3D computer models, Gruber Logistics was able to calculate the routes with precision and safely deliver this 35-meter-long museum piece with a 45-meter wingspan to its destination.
The heavy and abnormal transport (GST) experts at Gruber Logistics spent more than a year and a half preparing to organize the individual transfers of the Super Star, which entered the Lufthansa fleet in 1957 and was painstakingly restored by the Lufthansa Technik team in Hamburg. 3D scans of the aircraft, subsequent computer simulations, and route surveys were all part of the thorough preparatory phases.
“This project was a truly unique constellation – if you’ll pardon the pun with the Super Constellation,” comments Michael Gruber, Managing Director of Gruber Logistics Germany and Head of the Heavy Transport Division. “For our planners, professional drivers, support personnel, and all partners involved, it was as complex as it was exciting. As a great team, we managed to bring a unique and invaluable piece of aviation history back home, making it accessible to the public once again.” Gruber also highlighted the significance of the various stages: from the relocation from Hamburg to the Münsterland region, where the aircraft received its historic livery, up to the final arrival in Frankfurt.
On the client’s side, Wolfgang von Richthofen, project manager for the Lufthansa Group’s new conference and visitor center, adds: “The collaboration with Gruber Logistics was exemplary: we worked together with great motivation, mutual trust, and attention to detail. Thanks to this close cooperation, the transport – as complex as it was delicate – was completed safely and on schedule, enabling this virtually priceless cargo to reach Frankfurt. Together with the historic Junkers Ju 52, the Lockheed Super Star will be one of the main highlights of the new Lufthansa Group visitor center here at Frankfurt Airport.”
As is standard practice in heavy and oversized transport, the operations in mid-July and late August were carried out at night to minimize disruptions to traffic on the highways and roads involved. Depending on the aircraft components being transported, Gruber Logistics deployed low-bed semi-trailers and telescopic extendable trailers (telesattel).