Lufthansa is continuing to expand its global route network. From 25 March, when the 2007 summer timetable goes into effect, it will encompass 192 destinations in 78 countries (up from 188 destinations in 77 countries in summer 2006). “Lufthansa has never offered its customers such a wide choice of flights and destinations,” says Karl-Ulrich Garnadt, member of the Board of Lufthansa Passenger Airlines. This summer, capacity across the network will be increased by four per cent year-on-year to take account of the three per cent growth in traffic on European routes and the 4.4 per cent increase in long-haul traffic. “Thanks to 13 new routes and additional services on our main routes, our customers will reach their destinations faster and will have a greater choice of connecting flights,” Garnadt added.
The port city of Busan in South Korea is the latest addition to Lufthansa’s long-haul network. In Europe, meanwhile, passengers will be able to fly Lufthansa non-stop to Tirana and to Valencia. Other new European destinations are Bastia on the island of Corsica, Hungary’s Lake Balaton and the Danish island of Bornholm.
The new timetable will go into effect on Sunday 25 March (the start of summer time in many European countries) and will be valid until 27 October 2007. Over a million yellow Lufthansa pocket timetables will be published in various languages.
New long-haul flights to South Korea and the United States
Lufthansa is further expanding its long-haul network in response to increasing customer demand. When a second daily service is added to an existing route, the destination will in most instances also be connected to a second Lufthansa hub (Frankfurt or Munich). Lufthansa is the only airline to serve South Korea direct from Munich. The airline will launch its new thrice-weekly service from Munich to Busan, the largest port city in the Asian country, which will be operated as an onward flight from Seoul. Including the new Seoul-Busan route from Munich and the existing daily service from Frankfurt to Seoul, Lufthansa will operate ten flights a week from Germany to South Korea. Furthermore, the airline will increase its flights between Frankfurt and the Chinese financial city of Shanghai to a double-daily service.
Lufthansa is also expanding its flight offering to the USA by adding a new daily non-stop service from Munich to Denver and an additional second daily service on its Frankfurt-Detroit route. With 256 flights to 19 destinations in the USA and Canada, Lufthansa offers one of the densest route networks between Europe and North America.
116 European destinations in 37 countries
Lufthansa is also further strengthening its European network by increasing its frequencies on several routes and adding new, attractive destinations. Services will be resumed to Tirana with two non-stop flights per day from Munich to offer passengers greater flexibility. Another new addition is Valencia, which Lufthansa will serve non-stop from Düsseldorf and Hamburg. This summer, the Spanish city is hosting the America’s Cup, one of the world’s most famous regattas. Valencia is one of five new destinations that will be served from Hamburg: Bastia, an ideal base from which to explore the French island of Corsica; Bornholm (Rønne Airport), a popular Danish island in the Baltic; and Balaton-Airport, near Lake Balaton in Hungary (which will also be served from Düsseldorf). Palma de Mallorca will be served as before from Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Munich. New routes will also be operated from other German airports. This summer, Lufthansa will offer non-stop flights from Stuttgart to Prague and Marseille.
A Lufthansa jet takes off every 44 seconds
A total of 13,700 flights a week are scheduled for the 2007 summer timetable (compared with 13,140 in summer 2006). Each week, 5,584 of those flights will take off from or land at Frankfurt, Lufthansa’s largest hub. Its second hub, Munich, follows close behind with 5,046 flight movements a week. Almost 78 per cent of all Lufthansa flights are operated from one of Luft¬hansa’s two hubs. “Every 44 seconds – statistically speaking – a Lufthansa jet takes off somewhere in the world. If you include all the Star Alliance partners, it is even every six seconds,” Karl-Ulrich Garnadt notes.
Lufthansa is one of the 17 partner airlines in the Star Alliance, the world’s largest airline grouping. This means that Lufthansa passengers can book flights right across the global Star Alliance network. With its three regional partner airlines, Star Alliance offers more than 16,000 flights per day to 855 cities in 155 countries.
The new connections starting summer 2007
• Düsseldorf – Valencia LH4524/ 4525 3x /week (Wed/Sat/Sun; from 03 Mar)
• Düsseldorf – Madrid LH4430/ 4431/ 4432/ 4433 2x daily
• Düsseldorf – Balaton LH3378/ 3379 1x /week (Sat)
• Hamburg – Balaton LH3376/ 3377 1x /week (Sat)
• Hamburg – Bastia LH4396/ 4397 1x /week (Sat)
• Hamburg – Rønne LH3090/ 3091 1x /week (Sat)
• Hamburg – P. de Mallorca LH4510 / 4511 3x /week (Thu/Sat/Sun)
• Hamburg – Valencia LH4522/ 4523 3x /week (Tue/Sat/Sun; from 03 Mar)
• Munich – Tirana LH3396/ 3397/ 3398/ 3399 2x daily (from 15 Apr)
• Munich – Denver LH480/ 481 daily A340-300
• Munich – Seoul – Busan LH718/ 719 3x /week (Mon/Thu/Sat) A340-300
• Stuttgart – Marseille LH4348/ 4349 daily
• Stuttgart – Prague LH3282/ 3283 1x daily except Sat
Further additional flights on existing routes (selection):
• Cologne/Bonn – Berlin-Tegel LH272/ 273/ 284/ 285 52x /week (new 2x daily)
• Düsseldorf – Bucharest LH3426/ 3427 13x /week (new 1x daily except Sat)
• Düsseldorf – P. de Mallorca LH4406/ 4407 4x /week (new Tue/Thu)
• Frankfurt – Bahrain – Abu Dhabi LH622/ 623 4x /week (new Sat) A330-300
• Frankfurt – Baku – Ashgabat LH612/ 613 4x /week (new Fri) A330-300
• Frankfurt – Caracas LH534/ 535 1x daily (new Mon/Wed) A340-300
• Frankfurt – Detroit LH486 / 487 2x daily (new 1x daily) A330-300
• Frankfurt – Nizhny Novgorod – Perm LH3208/ 3209 4x /week (new Sat)
• Frankfurt – Shanghai LH780 /781 2x daily (new 4x /week) A340-600
• Munich – Florence LH4108/ 4109/ 4068/ 4069 39x /week (new 2x daily)
• Munich – Istanbul LH3350/ 3351 3x daily (new 1x daily)
• Munich – Krakow LH3332/ 3333 27x per week (new 1x daily except Sat)
• Munich – Moscow LH3190/ 3191 3x daily (new 1x daily)
• Munich – Paris LH4250/ 4251 9x daily (new 1x daily)
• Munich – Rom LH3864 / 3865 7x daily (new 1x daily)
• Munich – St. Petersburg LH3250/ 3251 2x daily (new 1x daily)
• Munich – Tbilisi LH3214/ 3215 5x /week (new on Mon)
• Munich – Verona LH3940/ 3941 29x /week (new Tue/Thu/Sun)
