Lufthansa expands in Africa

Lufthansa is expanding its services in West and Central Africa and adding another new destination to its network. From 15 July 2009, the airline will fly five times per week from Frankfurt via Accra, Ghana, to Libreville, the capital of Gabon. The route will be operated by Airbus A340 and A330 aircraft with a First, Business und Economy Class cabin.

“With the latest addition of Libreville, Lufthansa now offers customers flights to 16 destina-tions across Africa,” says Karl-Ulrich Garnadt, Executive Vice President Lufthansa Passen-ger Airlines. “We are thus continuing to pursue our strategy of integrating all the key growth markets in Africa into our network.”

Gabon has extensive petroleum and manganese reserves and is an important exporter of timber. Through its trade in raw materials with companies in the United States, China and Europe, the country has an above-average GDP. Gabon lies on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa and straddles the Equator. The capital, Libreville, a port city with a population of more than half a million, is the country’s economic and political centre.

“Our route network is growing steadily, particularly in West and Central Africa,” Karl Ulrich Garnadt explains. “Only last year we added two new destinations – Malabo in Equatorial Guinea and the Angolan capital Luanda – to our schedule. A few days ago, we increased our frequencies to Angola to two flights per week.”

In addition, from 1 July 2009, we will be serving Accra five times a week non-stop, rather than with a stopover in Lagos, Nigeria. Including the SWISS destinations Douala and Yaounde (both in Cameroon), Lufthansa customers have a choice of 31 flights per week to eight destinations in this dynamic economic region in West and Central Africa.

A return ticket from Frankfurt to Libreville can be booked for as little as 949 euros. This fare applies to Economy Class and includes all taxes, charges and the Lufthansa Ticket Service Charge of 15 euros if the booking is made online at lufthansa.com. Miles & More members will be awarded miles for these flights. For more information and flight reservations, visit the Lufthansa website.