Lufthansa improves UK offer for summer

25th March 2010 Lufthansa improves UK offer for summer Launch of daily non-stop flights from London-Heathrow to Dresden New connections to Iraq and Uzbekistan and expansion of Lufthansa Italia network Lufthansa is boosting services from the UK this summer with the introduction of a new non-stop service from London-Heathrow to Dresden as well as new connections via Frankfurt to Erbil, Iraq, and via Munich to Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Commencing 19th April, the new, daily lunch-time departure from London-Heathrow to Dresden will be operated with Airbus A319 aircraft from Lufthansa Group member bmi, offering up to 138 seats in a two class configuration. The outbound service will depart Heathrow at 12.35, arriving Dresden at 15.30, whilst the return flight will depart Dresden at 16.05, arriving Heathrow at 17.05. Lufthansa is offering a range of highly competitive fares for both business and leisure travellers on the new route. Economy fares start at £49 one-way, £89 return, whilst Business Class fares start at £399 one-way and £649 return. Fares are inclusive of all taxes and charges, a generous hold and hand baggage allowance and on board food and drink. With a flight time of less than two hours, the new service offers quick and easy access to Dresden and the surrounding area. Few cities have undergone such a radical transformation as Dresden with the construction boom of recent years producing a number of architectural masterpieces attracting international acclaim. The Elbe Valley around Dresden, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site, boasts lush meadows, magnificent villas and majestic palaces. New summer services from Manchester-Stuttgart and Edinburgh-Dusseldorf UK passengers will also benefit from brand new daily summer seasonal services between Manchester and Stuttgart, between Edinburgh and Dusseldorf, as well as increased flight frequencies between London-Heathrow and Hamburg (increased from 3 to 4 daily) and between London-Heathrow and Dusseldorf (increased from 4 to 5 daily). The summer timetable will also see the return of once weekly seasonal services to Dusseldorf, operating from Newquay, Jersey and Inverness, as well as the reintroduction of the second teatime service from Edinburgh to Frankfurt. "These new services and increased frequencies reinforce the importance of the UK market within Lufthansa airlines group portfolio", said Marianne Sammann, Lufthansa General Manager UK & Ireland. We are committed to offering the broadest range of both direct and connecting services to our UK passengers by making the most efficient use of the aircraft within the group fleet." New service via Frankfurt to Erbil, Iraq Lufthansa’s summer schedule will also see the resumption of flights to Iraq after a 20-year break. Commencing 25th April 2010, Lufthansa will launch a four times weekly service via Frankfurt to the city of Erbil in Northern Iraq. The four-and-a-half hour flight to Iraq’s fourth largest city will be operated with an Airbus A319 offering 132 seats in a two-class configuration. Together with the existing Vienna-Erbil service offered by Austrian Airlines, customers will have a choice of nine Lufthansa Group flights per week to Erbil. The demand for flights to Iraq is growing amidst signs of an economic recovery and foreign investment. With a population of one million, Erbil (also written Arbil), is the fourth-largest city in Iraq with a rich history spanning thousands of years. The economy in this region is growing vigorously. Numerous diplomatic and commercial representations, organisations and foreign companies have been set up in Northern Iraq. Erbil International Airport has recently been expanded and offers a modern passenger terminal. Lufthansa also plans to resume flights to the Iraqi capital Baghdad this year and is currently making the necessary preparations to do so. Tashkent new long-haul destination Another new destination in Lufthansa’s summer schedule is Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan. Starting on 28th March, the airline will operate thrice-weekly flights with its PrivatAir partner via Munich to Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan. In addition, non-stop flights from Munich to Riyadh in Saudi Arabia will be increased from two to three weekly, alongside the daily flight from Frankfurt. Undoubtedly one of the highlights in the summer flight schedule is Lufthansa’s inaugural services with the Airbus A380. According to current planning, the world’s biggest passenger aircraft will commence scheduled flights in the airline’s intercontinental route network from June 2010. The first A380 destinations will be named at the beginning of April. Bookings can then commence for the first flights with the new Lufthansa flagship. Lufthansa Italia route network expansion Lufthansa Italia is expanding its route network via Milan-Malpensa this summer with flights to Warsaw and Stockholm as well as the Italian destinations of Palermo (new in the timetable) and Olbia. All in all, the Milan-based carrier will be offering 172 flights weekly to 13 destinations in Italy and Europe. A number of other European destinations will be served in summer with flights from further German airports in addition to the existing connections. Tallinn, capital of Estonia, for example, will be served for the first time non-stop from Munich. The number of connections ex Dusseldorf has been increased with the addition of Athens/Greece, Gdansk/Poland, Dubrovnik/Croatia, Lisbon/Portugal and Naples/Italy. Naples, Italy’s third largest city, will be served daily via Frankfurt alongside connections from Dusseldorf, Munich and Milan. All in all, Lufthansa will serve 204 destinations in 81 countries in the summer timetable this year. On average, the airline will operate 12,853 flights weekly compared with 12,860 in 2009. Services in Europe have been marginally reduced to 11,445 flights weekly (previous year: 11,519 flights). In contrast, flights in the long-haul, intercontinental network have been increased to a weekly 1,408 flights (previous year: 1,341 flights weekly). Despite a smaller fleet, overall capacity (available seat-kilometres) is up year-on-year by 3.6 per cent, following successive fleet renewal and the replacement of older aircraft by larger types. Included in the calculation are the planned services with the Airbus A380 which are to begin scheduled flights with Lufthansa from June this year. The Lufthansa Group airlines – Austrian Airlines, bmi, Brussels Airlines and SWISS – will also be commencing their summer flight schedules on 28th March. Together with Lufthansa, all five airlines will be serving 274 destinations in 104 countries on four continents from their hubs at Brussels, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, London-Heathrow, Munich and Zurich with their own as well as numerous code-share flights. At a glance: New Lufthansa routes for UK passengers in Summer timetable 2010 Non-stop ex-UK: • London-Heathrow – Dresden 1 x daily (start 19th April 2010) • Manchester – Stuttgart 1 x daily (start 12th April 2010) • Edinburgh – Dusseldorf 1 x daily (26 April – 29 October 2010) Via Frankfurt or Munich: • Frankfurt – Erbil 4 x weekly (Tu, Th, Sa, Su) • Munich - Tashkent 3 x weekly (Tu, Th, Su) • Milan/Malpensa – Palermo daily For further press information contact: Aage Duenhaupt / Gudrun Gorner Dave Sanders Lufthansa German Airlines Dave Sanders & Associates Ltd Tel: + 44 20 8750 3415 Tel/Fax: 01257 278767 Fax: + 44 20 8759 1987 Email: http://media.lufthansa.com lhmedia@davesandersassociates.com