Lufthansa Adds Flights, Destinations to Winter Schedule

Lufthansa Adds Flights, Destinations to Winter Schedule

Lufthansa is expanding its flight services this winter, Lufthansa is adding more destinations and frequencies to its existing network. An average of 12,218 flights per week are scheduled, compared with 11,803 flights (an increase of 3.5 percent) in the 2009-10 winter period. From Oct. 31, when the new timetable goes into effect, Lufthansa will offer flights to 197 destinations in 85 countries (compared to 191 destinations in 78 countries in the previous year).

The three latest additions to the route network are Bogotá, Pointe Noire and Luxembourg. Available seat capacity in the forthcoming winter timetable will be increased by 9.1 percent year-on-year. This increase is attributable to Lufthansa’s ongoing fleet renewal program, under which existing aircraft are gradually being replaced by larger and more fuel-efficient aircraft.

Lufthansa is extending its long-haul network with the addition of several new destinations in growth markets in South America and Africa. On Oct. 31, services to the Colombian capital of Bogotá will resume. Five flights per week, operated by an Airbus A340, are scheduled between Frankfurt and Bogotá. Lufthansa served this major city in the northwest of South America until 2002. Once this route is reinstated, Lufthansa will offer its customers a total of 62 flights weekly to four destinations in South America.

Lufthansa is also launching a new route to Africa. From Oct. 31, flights from Frankfurt to Pointe Noire in the Republic of the Congo will be operated five times a week by a Privat Air Boeing 737-800, with a stopover in Libreville in Gabon. Libreville will then be served nonstop from Frankfurt. In the last three years alone, Lufthansa has added five new African destinations to its route network.

Seasonal connections from Munich to Montreal and Washington will be continued in the winter, thus making these cities year-round destinations.

This winter, Lufthansa is also expanding its extensive network in Europe with the introduction of flights from Munich to Luxembourg, which will augment the service offered by its partner Luxair. The route will be operated up to twice daily by a Lufthansa CityLine CRJ700. In addition, Luxair will offer three direct flights per day from Luxembourg to Munich. For the first time, Lufthansa will also operate its seasonal summer route from Dusseldorf to Venice and Nice as well as from Hamburg to Nice in the winter. Flight frequencies on numerous routes from Dusseldorf have also been increased. For example, Lufthansa will for the first time offer a daily service on its Dusseldorf– Miami route during the winter period.

For economic reasons, Lufthansa has recently withdrawn its service from Hamburg to Innsbruck in Austria. From now on, this route will be operated on a codeshare basis with Austrian Airlines.

The other four carriers in the Lufthansa Airline Group -- Austrian Airlines, bmi, Brussels Airlines and Swiss -- are also launching their winter schedule on Oct. 31. Together, the five airlines will then serve 258 destinations in 107 countries on four continents from their hubs at Brussels, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, London Heathrow, Munich, Vienna and Zurich, and also augment each other’s frequencies with numerous codeshare flights.