Lufthansa airlifts food to England as UK border crisis continues over new COVID-19 strain

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German airline Lufthansa is flying food to the U.K. amid fears of supply shortages, with restrictions underway at the France-UK border during an outbreak of the new strain of COVID-19.

The airline sent a Boeing B777 Freighter to England's Doncaster Sheffield airport on Wednesday with 80 tonnes (88.1 tons) of fruits and vegetables on board, the airline confirmed to Fox News Wednesday. The food went directly to U.K. supermarkets Texco, Sainsbury, Coop and Aldi upon landing, the airline said. 

 German airline Lufthansa transported 80 tonnes of food. (Courtesy of Lufthansa). 

"Normally we transport 50% of our freight in the bellies of passenger aircraft of Lufthansa Group (Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, Eurowings, Brussels Airlines). The other 50% we transport with our freighters. Since many passenger flights were canceled during 2020 because of the corona pandemic, air freight capacity is very limited," a spokesperson for Lufthansa said in an email. 

UK TRAVEL BAN STRANDS MORE THAN 1,500 FRANCE-BOUND TRUCKS AS GOVERNMENTS WORK TO REOPEN BORDER 

France and the U.K. made a deal on Tuesday night that would lift the blockade and allow French citizens, residents and truck drivers to cross the English Channel. France and a number of other countries in Europe shut down operations with the U.K. after the new strain of COVID-19 was found in England. Anyone crossing must show proof of a negative COVID-19 test done in the last 72 hours. 

Still, retailers in the U.K. urged Tuesday there would be shortages of fresh produce by the end of the week without shipments.

"Lufthansa Cargo is currently examining whether additional special cargo flight can be offered during the next days, we are also checking if a regular flight might be possible. This could be with a freighter, but we are also examining if we could use passenger aircraft for freight flights only," the spokesperson said.