Lufthansa Group has been analysing trends in passenger demand, and having first responded to short-term flight planning requirements, has now revealed its expanded flight schedules due to be introduced by the end of October. The new summer timetable has been implemented in the group’s booking systems (details below).
During July Lufthansa Group airlines will offer more than 40% of its original pre-Covid planned flight programme, with a total of over 380 aircraft being operated by Lufthansa Group carriers until October. This figure represents half of the Lufthansa Group’s fleet operating in the air again – 200 aircraft more than in June.
“Little by little, the borders open again. Demand is increasing, in the short term but also in the long term,” said Harry Hohmeister, member of the executive board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG. “We are therefore consistently expanding our flight schedule and our global network and pushing ahead with our restart. I am pleased that we can now offer our guests even more connections to all parts of the world with all Lufthansa Group Airlines via all hubs.”
The group expects that by the end of October, over 90% of all originally planned short- and medium-haul destinations and over 70% of the Group’s long-haul destinations will be served again. Customers who are planning their summer and autumn holidays will thus have access to an extensive global network for tourism and business connections via all the Group’s hubs.
The summer and autumn schedule
The group’s core brand, Lufthansa, expects to be flying 150 frequencies on the American continent each week in summer/autumn via the Frankfurt and Munich hubs. Around 90 flights a week are planned to Asia, over 45 to the Middle East and over 40 to Africa. Flights will be resumed by October from Frankfurt to destinations including Miami, New York (JFK), Washington, San Francisco, Orlando, Seattle, Detroit, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, Dallas, Singapore, Seoul, Cancún, Windhoek and Mauritius. Services will also be resumed by October from Munich, serving New York/Newark, Denver, Charlotte, Tokyo Haneda and Osaka.
Lufthansa offers more than 2,100 weekly connections on short- and medium-haul routes. From Frankfurt, there will be a further 105 destinations, and from Munich around 90. The following destinations will be resumed from Frankfurt before October: Seville, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Santiago de Compostela, Basel, Linz and others. From Munich, Lufthansa will be flying to more destinations around the Mediterranean, including Rhodes, Corfu, Olbia, Dubrovnik, Malaga, Faro and Funchal/Madeira.
In addition, the weekly availability of existing and highly demanded destinations will be increased.
Lufthansa Group reports a successful restart of Austrian Airlines’ operations, with flight operations due to ramp-up according to plan. From July onwards, Austria’s home carrier will fly to over 50 destinations.
Meanwhile SWISS will continue to extend its services from Zurich and Geneva over the coming weeks and months, adding further destinations to its network in addition to its existing routes. SWISS is preparing to add 12 new European routes from Zurich in July and will offer 24 new European destinations from Geneva. The Switzerland-based carrier will serve a total of 11 long-haul destinations from Zurich in July, and 17 in October.
The group’s low-cost carrier, Eurowings, is also significantly increasing its flight schedules for both business and leisure travellers, intending to return to 80% of its network during the course of the summer. Following the lifting of the travel warnings and restrictions, the airline has identified that interest in holiday destinations such as Italy, Spain, Greece and Croatia in particular is growing rapidly, with the airline flying 30 to 40% of its flight capacity in July.
Belgian carrier, Brussels Airlines, is also expanding its offer for both leisure travellers and corporate guests. In September and October the carrier plans to operate 45% of its originally planned schedule.
Safety and health measures for passengers and employees have been implemented across Lufthansa Group, from airports at the home hubs and in destination countries to ensure physical distancing and other hygiene measures, to requiring face coverings to be worn all the way from boarding to disembarkation.
The service on board has been redesigned taking into account the duration of the flight in order to minimise the interaction between guests and crew and reduce the risk of infection on board. Aircraft operated by Lufthansa Group Airlines are equipped with HEPA filters that clean the cabin air of contaminants such as dust, bacteria and viruses.
In addition, Lufthansa’s Frankfurt and Munich hubs are now offering customers the option to have themselves tested for Covid-19 at short notice for flights abroad or a stay in Germany in order to avoid quarantine. These test centres are operated by partner companies.
To give their customers maximum flexibility in the corona crisis, Lufthansa Group airlines also offer numerous rebooking options and a basic return flight guarantee on all European routes, regardless of the fare booked. Depending on the fare, an “all-round carefree package” is included in the price, covering the costs of measures such as a quarantine period or medical return transport. In the “Bring me Home NOW” tariff, customers can be transported on the next bookable Lufthansa Group flight, if desired.
When planning trips, customers should take the current entry and quarantine regulations of the respective destinations into account.
