Lufthansa has made this announcement:

With the arrival of special flight LH2020 Lufthansa partakes in the opening of the new Berlin Capital Airport BER on October 31, 2020. Lufthansa’s Airbus A320neo “Neubrandenburg” is scheduled to take off from Munich (MUC) at 12:50 p.m. and land at BER on schedule at 2 p.m. In addition to the Chairman of the Executive Board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Carsten Spohr, around 40 invited guests will be on board. The special flight is 100 percent carbon-neutral, as all emissions will be offset via the Lufthansa platform Compensaid, using sustainable fuel.

The maiden flight to the new airport underlines Lufthansa’s special and longstanding relationship with the capital. The airline has been flying to Berlin for 30 years. Since September, the Lufthansa Group, which flies to the capital with six of its airlines, has been the market leader in Berlin. The Group’s market share is around 30 percent of all flights – twice as many as the “runner up” to Lufthansa Group’s leading position. No other airline group has flown as many Berliners all over the world in recent decades as the Lufthansa Group.

Customers of Lufthansa Group Airlines can expect an extensive range of services at the new airport to make their travel experience even more pleasant. For example, a new 650 sqm Lufthansa lounge with approx. 150 seats will be opened. It goes without saying that the lounge has been designed in compliance with current hygiene and social distancing regulations. The panoramic window front offers a phenomenal view of the apron and, in good weather, an exclusive view of the famous Berlin TV tower.

Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines and Air Dolomiti flights are handled at “Mainpier,” just a short walk from the lounge. Eurowings flights are mainly handled at the north pier.

Regular Lufthansa flight operations at BER from November 8

On November 8, 2020, Berlin-Tegel Airport will close its flight operations and Lufthansa will move to BER. At 6.45 a.m., Lufthansa’s flight LH173 to Frankfurt is scheduled to take off from the new capital airport for the first time. First arrivals at BER are planned for November 7, 2020. Together with Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines and Swiss will start scheduled operations at BER on November 8. Brussels Airlines follows on November 9. Eurowings is moving to BER a few days earlier. On  November 4, a regular EW flight will take off from BER for the first time. The airline, which will be based in T2 in the long term, will initially take off from BER T1. Air Dolomiti will be commence flying to BER in the summer flight schedule.

Overview last/first flights TXL/BER Lufthansa

Last Departures Berlin-Tegel TXL:

First Arrivals BER:

First Departures BER:

First departures BER Lufthansa Group Airlines:

Eurowings

SWISS

Austrian

Brussels Airlines

Lufthansa has made this announcement:

For the duration of the winter timetable (until the end of March 2021) Lufthansa will be deploying four of the currently parked Airbus A350-900s to its hub in Frankfurt. The Airbus A350-900 is one of the most modern and environmentally friendly long-haul aircraft in the world.

Over the next few months the A350-900 will be serving Chicago and Los Angeles from Frankfurt, by temporarily replacing the Boeing 747-8 for this period of time. From December onwards, the ultra-modern A350-900 will also be flying from Frankfurt on the route to Tokyo/Haneda instead of the Airbus A340-300. All flights will be operated by Munich-based cabin and cockpit crews.

The A350-900 not only offers Lufthansa customers a top product on board, it is also extremely environmentally friendly, efficient and quiet. Compared to a Boeing 747-8, the Airbus A350-900 consumes around 12 percent less fuel and emits less CO2. At the same time by operating the A350-900 in Frankfurt, the fleet will be optimally used in an efficient and sustainable way under the current circumstances.

Lufthansa’s A350-900 fleet currently encompasses 16 Munich- based aircraft. Due to the sharp reduction in the number of flights offered as a result of the corona pandemic, only seven A350-900s will initially be operated at Munich in the winter timetable of 20/21 on routes to North America and Asia.

Lufthansa aircraft photo gallery:

Lufthansa has made this announcement:

The outlook for international air traffic has significantly worsened in recent weeks. With the summer travel season coming to an end, passenger and booking figures are declining again, after slight signs of recovery were still evident in July and August. In view of these developments, the Executive Board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG approved the third package within the Group-wide “ReNew” restructuring program today and informed the Supervisory Board accordingly.

In detail, the Executive Board adopted the following resolutions:

• The capacity outlook for the passenger airlines will be significantly revised; the previous assumption that an average production level of 50 percent of the previous year’s value would be reached in the fourth quarter of the year no longer seems realistic. If the current trend continues, the available seat kilometres will probably only be in a range between 20 and 30 percent, compared to the previous year.
• The medium term fleet planning will be adjusted and currently foresees  a permanent, Group-wide capacity reduction of 150 aircraft by the middle of this decade (starting point is the Group fleet including wet-leased aircraft).
• In addition to the fleet changes already communicated, the following decisions have been made: After six Airbus A380s were finally taken out of service in the spring, the remaining eight A380s and ten A340-600s, which were previously intended for flight service, will be transferred to long-term storage and removed from planning. These aircraft will only be reactivated in the event of an unexpectedly rapid market recovery. In addition, the remaining seven Airbus A340-600s will be permanently decommissioned.
• Copyright Photo Above: Marcelo F. De Biasi.
• The fleet decisions mentioned above will result in a further impairment of up to EUR 1.1 billion. The amount is expected to be accounted for in the third quarter of the current year.
• The previously announced personnel surplus amounting to 22,000 full-time positions will increase as a result of the decisions taken in regards to the third package within the restructuring program. The change in permanent staffing levels within flight operations will be further adjusted in regards to market development. The compensation and reduction of personnel surplus will be discussed with the responsible employee representatives.
• Irrespective of the negotiations on reconciliations of interests and social plans for redundancies within the Lufthansa Group, the Executive Board’s objective remains agreeing on crisis packages with the collective bargaining partners that limit the number of necessary redundancies.
• Despite the worsened outlook, the revised financial planning intends to further reduce cash outflows through strict cost management. The outflow of liquidity is to be reduced from currently around EUR 500 million per month to an average of EUR 400 million per month in winter 2020/21. The previously communicated Group target of returning to positive operating cash flows during 2021 is being reinforced.
• A streamlined management structure with a 20 percent reduction of management positions is to be implemented in the first quarter of 2021. To simplify and clearly define responsibilities, the functional process organization (matrix) will be focused on core functions of Lufthansa Group Airlines. For all other areas, a new management model with clearly assigned responsibilities (decentralized or centralized, depending on the process) will be introduced.
• The administrative office space will be reviewed worldwide and reduced by 30 percent in Germany.

In the Executive Board’s assessment, the continuing high level of uncertainty in global air traffic makes short-term adjustments to the current market situation unavoidable for the foreseeable future.  The Board considers the expansion of corona tests prior to departure an essential prerequisite for the resumption of global mobility. Consistent testing is possible, increases safety for travelers and is a better alternative than changing inconsistent entry and quarantine regulations.

Lufthansa aircraft photo gallery:

Photo: Historic town of Lindos on Rhodes, Greece (Lufthansa).

Lufthansa has made this announcement:

According to Bloomberg, Lufthansa will consider the retirement of the remaining Airbus A380s, most of the Airbus A340s, and all of its Boeing 747-400s next week at a board meeting.

The Boeing 747-8 Intercontinentals and some Airbus A340-600s will be retained.

Lufthansa aircraft photo gallery:

Lufthansa Group made this announcement:

Even if the Munich Oktoberfest cannot take place as usual this year, Lufthansa is holding on to the beautiful tradition of the Trachtencrew flights. As a tribute to the world-famous folk festival, eleven flight attendants will take off for New York/Newark on September 22 with the Airbus A350. At the same time, passengers on board of Lufthansa CityLine can experience the traditional costume crews on numerous European flights. From September 21 to 25 the flights will take passengers from Munich to Copenhagen, Helsinki, Manchester, Berlin and Vienna and  to the holiday destinations Santorini and Sylt.

The tradition of Trachtencrew flights is as long as it is successful at Lufthansa. The first flights in traditional costume took place as early as 1957, and even back then they were already  fascinating Lufthansa passengers all over the world. In 2006 the idea was taken up again and the maiden flight went – as well as this year – to New York. Since then, the Lufthansa Trachtencrew has been heading to 25 destinations from China to Japan, India and the USA, as well as  destinations all over Europe.

The Dirndl of the Lufthansa long-haul crews was createdby the Munich costume designer Angermaier: The flight attendants’ Wiesn-Dirndl is dark blue with a silver-grey apron, the men wear short leather pants with a dark blue vest in the fabric of the Dirndl.

It has also been a long-standing tradition for Lufthansa’s passenger service staff in Terminal 2 to welcome passengers in Dirndl and traditional costume suits during the Wiesn season.

Bavarian delights on board and in the Lufthansa lounges

Munich’s Lufthansa Lounges also continue the tradition of previous years. In the lounges, passengers can choose between typical Bavarian dishes such as Leberkäs’, cabbage or potato salad. There are also roasted almonds, pretzel pearls and Oktoberfest beer.

On board of the Business Class, trout and Bavarian cream are served  during the month of September, a Weissbier can be ordered on request as well.