Lufthansa flying to 15 new destinations in summer

Lufthansa is expanding its route network considerably in the summer timetable 2008 with 15 new destinations, taking the total to 207 destinations in 81 countries. The expansion focuses on long-haul routes to growth markets in North America and Asia.

Lufthansa is serving those two traffic areas alone with seven new connections, or an additional 36 round-trips weekly. In Europe, further business centres will be connected with the Lufthansa hubs in Frankfurt and Munich, some of them with several flights daily.

Lufthansa customers can also choose between numerous new European destinations which will be served directly from several airports in Germany. All in all, the new timetable for the period from Sunday, 30 March up to 25 October 2008 features 37 new city pairs.

The seating capacity offered in the entire Lufthansa route network in summer 2008 is up by 7.4 per cent compared to last year. European traffic is up by 5.8 per cent and intercontinental connections by 8.2 per cent.

“With 207 destinations and more than 2,000 Lufthansa flights daily, we are providing our customers with the widest choice of connections ever before,” observed Thierry Antinori, Executive Vice President Marketing & Sales of Lufthansa Passenger Airlines at the International Tourism Fair (ITB) in Berlin. “New connections mean that customers can reach their destination faster and in greater comfort, with less need to transfer from one flight to another,“ said Antinori.

A total of 14,224 Lufthansa flights per week is planned in the summer timetable, representing an increase of 3.9 per cent. Of this, the bulk of the flights – or some 12,972 connections, will operate in the European network, which has been expanded to include 124 destinations in 38 countries. In addition, the timetable lists 1,258 intercontinental flights to 43 countries in three continents.

Long-haul expansion focused on North America and Asia
Lufthansa is further expanding its position in North America. With new service to Seattle and Calgary from Frankfurt, Lufthansa passengers can now choose from 280 weekly connections to fly nonstop to 22 North American destinations.

With a total of 33 routes, Lufthansa offers a wider choice of city pairs than any other European carrier between Europe and North America. Moreover, from 1 May 2008 Lufthansa will be flying the existing Lufthansa Business Jet connections to Newark (New York) and Chicago from Dusseldorf with comfortable wide-body Airbus A340 jets. New nonstop flights out of Dusseldorf will also be available to Toronto.

The growth markets in Asia will also profit from new Lufthansa connections. In China, the airline is introducing the first flights by a European carrier to Nanjing from Frankfurt and Shenyang from Munich.

The new connections will further expand Lufthansa’s lead over other European airlines: To China alone, Lufthansa is offering 58 weekly connections from its Frankfurt and Munich hubs. India and Singapore also remain in the airline’s focus, with additional nonstop flights from Munich to Mumbai and Singapore included in the summer schedule. With 50 flights per week to India, Lufthansa is maintaining its leading position in the Asian subcontinent.

“Development in the Asian markets is very dynamic. Customers from the Far East can fly directly to America with just a single stopover in Frankfurt or Munich. Each new Asian flight thus has a positive impact on our American routes and vice-versa,” said Thierry Antinori.

Two new destinations in Africa, Malabo in Equatorial Guinea and Luanda in Angola, provide customers from the mineral oil and raw materials industry, in particular, with comfortable direct connections from Frankfurt. These services link the two African energy capitals to Lufthansa’s global route network.

28 new nonstop connections in Europe
The new timetable also draws further important business centres into the dense and widely spread Lufthansa route network in Europe. Flights from Frankfurt to Bergen, Bristol and Billund or from Munich to Klagenfurt and Bilbao, mostly operated several times per day, are attractive options not only for business travellers but also for short city trips or vacations.

“At times when demand for business travel is low, such as at midday or on the weekends, we deploy some of our aircraft on time-saving, nonstop flights to popular tourist destinations,” explains Antinori. Among them are Jersey, Ibiza, Iceland, the German island Usedom or Cornwall (Newquay) in the UK, which will be served this summer with connections from various German airports.

Another target for expansion is Eastern Europe: The Polish cities of Cracow, Wroclaw and Gdansk are all within nonstop reach from a number of German airports. Lufthansa customers can also choose between four Romanian destinations following the inclusion of newcomer Cluj in the timetable, which is served with flights from Munich. Most of Lufthansa’s European flights are available for the attractive price of 99 euros round-trip.