Tag Archives: Frankfurt

Lufthansa’s “Yes to Europe” campaign on D-AIUC

Lufthansa – Yes to Europe Airbus A320-214 WL D-AIUC (msn 6006) FRA (Bernhard Ross). Image: 963016.

Lufthansa previously announced:

A message at an altitude of over ten kilometers and spread across the entire continent! With the clear statement “Yes to Europe”, several Lufthansa Group aircraft will be flying across their European home from this week on. A total of four Airbus A320 will serve as ambassadors of the European idea shortly before the European elections. The eye-catching message can be read on the fuselage and is framed by the European star wreath.

European stars in the European sky

Lufthansa and Eurowings, which even has its connection to Europe at the heart of its brand name, will be the first to do so, each sending an aircraft with special foil into the European skies from this week. Next week, one aircraft each from Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines will take off.

On May 13, 2024, all four Lufthansa Group aircraft will then meet at Brussels Airport. Lufthansa had already branded an aircraft with a commitment to Europe before the European elections in 2019.

Top Copyright Photo: Lufthansa – Yes to Europe Airbus A320-214 WL D-AIUC (msn 6006) FRA (Bernhard Ross). Image: 963016.

Lufthansa aircraft photo gallery:

Lufthansa welcomes capacity reduction in Frankfurt to 88 movements per hour

Lufthansa has issued this statement:

The announcement published on July 15 by Fraport that it intends to reduce the number of take-offs and landings at Frankfurt Airport to 88 movements per hour from next week is the right step to stabilize flight operations, according to Lufthansa.

Jens Ritter, CEO of Lufthansa Airline, said:

“In recent weeks, we have already cancelled flights in several waves to relieve the overall system. This has disappointed many thousand customers, caused enormous additional work for our employees and additional costs in the millions. Since the already increased capacities of the ground handling services in Frankfurt are still not sufficient due to a high sickness absence rate, even for the flight schedule that has already been reduced several times, the decision taken by Fraport today is right. Other airlines flying to and from Frankfurt will now also contribute to an even reduction and stabilization with flight cancellations.”

Lufthansa aircraft photo gallery:

Condor returns to Toronto, inaugurates service to Tbilisi, Georgia

Condor is returning to Toronto from Frankfurt. The German carrier will operate on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays with its Boeing 767-300s.

In addition, on May 2, Condor inaugurated twice-weekly service from Frankfurt to Tbilisi, Georgia. The carrier will use Airbus aircraft.

Ryanair to close its Frankfurt base

Ryanair has confirmed that it will close its Frankfurt am Main base on March 31, 2022 and has reallocated these five aircraft to airports that have responded with lower airport charges to stimulate traffic recovery.

In a post COVID-19 recovery phase, airports must incentivize traffic recovery, unfortunately Frankfurt instead of providing traffic recovery incentives, has chosen to increase prices even further, making Frankfurt uncompetitive with European airports. While Ryanair continues to invest in Germany (as evidenced by a $200 million investment in a new two aircraft Nuremberg base), the German Government continues to protect legacy carriers, such as Lufthansa who have soaked up €9 billion in State aid rather than introduce non-discriminatory traffic recovery schemes open to all airlines.

Ryanair will now deliver even more growth across Europe in Summer ‘22 with 65 new Boeing 737 8-200 ‘Gamechanger’ aircraft. There are a multitude of airports throughout Europe seeking to attract this Ryanair growth since our competitors continue to reduce both their fleets and capacity. Efficient operations and competitive airport fees are key to traffic recovery post Covid and instead of incentivizing Ryanair to stay and grow, Frankfurt have opted to drive away traffic and jobs by increasing airport charges.

Regrettably all Ryanair Frankfurt am Main based pilots and cabin crew have today received notification of the base closure at the end of March 2022. All flight crew can secure alternative positions within the Ryanair network, since Ryanair is leading Europe’s post-Covid recovery as it accelerates growth (in jobs and traffic) with the delivery of 210 aircraft.

All Ryanair passengers impacted by these flight cancellations will receive notifications and refunds over the coming days.

Ryanair’s Director of Commercial Jason McGuinness said:

“We are disappointed to announce the closure of our Frankfurt am Main base at the end of March 2022, but we have no alternative in response to a decision from the Airport to increase its airport fees, despite the collapse in traffic caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

While Ryanair continues to invest in German airports who understand the requirement to lower airport charges to recover traffic, competition in the German market has been massively distorted by the €9 billion of State aid that was pumped into Lufthansa, who continues to cut its fleet, connections, and jobs.

Efficient operations and competitive airport fees provide the foundation from which Ryanair can deliver long-term traffic growth and increased connectivity for airports and regions. This is impossible at Frankfurt following the German Government’s decision to increase its passenger taxes, and the Airport’s decision to increase its already high and uncompetitive fees.

Ryanair continues to successfully negotiate the long-term low costs required from airports to underpin Ryanair’s industry leading low fares, which is driving Ryanair’s recovery and leading Europe’s post-Covid recovery.”

Lufthansa to add the Frankfurt – Liverpool route

Lufthansa on May 4, 2022 will add a new spoke route from its Frankfurt hub to Liverpool.

Air Montenegro to restore the Frankfurt route

Air Montenegro has announced it will restore the Podgorica-Frankfurt route, operating twice a week service, every Saturday and Wednesday, starting on December 18.

The route was temporarily suspended in September due to travel restrictions and COVID-19 measures of the Federal Republic of Germany that were in force at the time.

Air Montenegro has now recognized the importance of connecting the two countries due to demand and great passenger interest, especially during the New Year and Christmas holidays.

Air Montenegro operates an Embraer 195 that as transferred from defunct Montenegro Airlines.

HiSky to start flying to Frankfurt

HiSky (Chișinău, Moldova) has announced it will start flying from Satu Mare International Airport with two frequencies per week (Monday and Saturday) to Frankfurt, Germany starting on May 1.

Previously HiSky made its first commercial flight on March 5, 2001. It was a charter flight to Chisinau – Hurghada (Egypt). Start of services was delayed from 2020 due to COVID-19.

The company operates three Airbus A320s.

HiSky was certified as a Romanian air carrier in December (AOC number RO-074).

In February 2021 the airline announced flights from Cluj, Iaşi, Satu Mare and Chisinau and charter flights from Cluj, Timişoara, Baia Mare and Oradea.

Current and planned routes:

Etihad Airways to introduce Boeing 787 Dreamliners to Rome and Frankfurt

From June 1, 2019, Etihad Airways will introduce a new two-class Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner, the largest variant of the technologically advanced aircraft, on its scheduled daily morning service from Abu Dhabi to Rome, complementing the second overnight 777-300ER departure. On July 1, the airline will introduce the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner on its two daily services to Frankfurt.

Latest 787-10 on morning service to Rome
Frankfurt double daily service to go all-Dreamliner on the 787-9
Etihad Dreamliners feature industry-leading, award-winning cabins

The two-class 787-9 features Etihad Airways’ next-generation Business and Economy Class cabins, configured with 299 seats – 28 Business Studios and 271 Economy Smart Seats. The 336-seat 787-10 features 32 Business Studios and 304 Economy Smart Seats.

Boeing 787-10 / 777-300ER schedule to Rome, effective June 1, 2019

Flight	Origin	Departs	Destn	Arrives	Freq	Aircraft
EY 85	Abu Dhabi	02:15	Rome	06:20	Daily	Boeing 777-300ER
EY 86	Rome	11:00	Abu Dhabi	19:05	Daily	Boeing 777-300ER
EY 83	Abu Dhabi	08:50	Rome	13:00	Daily	Boeing 787-10
EY 84	Rome	22:00	Abu Dhabi	06:05+1	Daily	Boeing 787-10

Boeing 787-9 schedule to Frankfurt, effective July 1, 2019

Flight	Origin	Departs	Destn	Arrives	Freq	Aircraft
EY 1	Abu Dhabi	02:10	Frank furt	06:45	Daily	Boeing 787-9
EY 2	Frank furt	11:20	Abu Dhabi	19:45	Daily	Boeing 787-9
EY 7	Abu Dhabi	09:35	Frank furt	14:20	Daily	Boeing 787-9
EY 8	Frank furt	21:45	Abu Dhabi	06:00+1	Daily	Boeing 787-9

Notes: All departures and arrivals are listed in local time.

Top Copyright Photo: Etihad Airways Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner A6-BLO (msn 39660) AMS (Ton Jochems). Image: 945941.

Etihad Airways aircraft slide show:

Verdi strike at Frankfurt Airport will lead to significant disruption on Tuesday

reb_MG_6050.jpg

Lufthansa has made this announcement:

The trade union Verdi has called for a comprehensive strike by security personnel at Frankfurt Airport between 2 a.m. and 20 p.m. on Tuesday, 15 January 2019. As a result, a considerable amount of disruptions are to be expected regarding flight operations to and from Frankfurt Airport. More detailed information for Lufthansa passengers is available at www.lufthansa.com. Passengers with a Lufthansa flight departing from Frankfurt can immediately change their flights free of charge to a date between 11 and 20 January, 2019. Lufthansa will publish flight cancellations on its website on Sunday afternoon. From this date on, online rebooking will be also possible. Passengers who have entered their contact data online will be actively informed about their flight status.

Passengers who are planning to start their journey from Frankfurt Airport on this coming Tuesday should take particular note of the situation. According to the airport operator, the security checks outside the transit area will not be staffed. Therefore, passengers who are supposed to begin their journey in Frankfurt will not be able to reach their flight during the entire strike period as they will not be able to go through a security check. Lufthansa is therefore asking these guests not to go to the airport during that time, but instead to use rebooking options online at www.lufthansa.com or the Lufthansa App to rebook their flights accordingly. This explicitly does not apply to transit passengers changing flights at Frankfurt Airport, but only those who are starting their journey there.

“Although all aviation partners agreed that we want to improve the situation for our passengers in 2019, the Verdi union is escalating this collective bargaining dispute disproportionately and to an unacceptable extent. This series of strikes can certainly no longer be described as warning strikes. It is also clear that Verdi has no interest in making its contribution to improving Germany as an aviation location. We already have the lowest quality security checks at the highest costs, compared to Europe and other countries around the world,” says Dr. Detlef Kayser, Member of the Executive Board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG for Airline Resources & Operations Standards.

Photo: Lufthansa.

Qatar Airways adds the Airbus A380 to its Frankfurt route

Qatar Airways has announced it will add Airbus A380 service to one of its two daily services from Doha (DOH) to Frankfurt (FRA) from March 31, 2019.

The move will increase the airline’s current daily capacity on the Doha to Frankfurt route by 23 percent, as well as offer passengers the option to choose from First Class on board the A380 or its patented, award-winning Qsuite Business Class experience offered on the Boeing 777 aircraft, which will serve the route’s second daily flight.

The A380 aircraft features a luxurious and exclusive First Class Cabin with ultra-wide seats, which recline into a flat bed, two-passenger table extension dining, and designer sleeper suits, flight slippers and amenities. Passengers travelling in Qatar Airways’ award-winning Business Class can also enjoy direct aisle access with the 1-2-1 seat configuration and a suite of entertainment options including on-board Wi-Fi, keeping them fully connected while up in the air.

In addition, passengers in First and Business Class can relax and socialize at the on-board lounge located on the upper deck of the A380 aircraft (above).

The 517-seat capacity is spread across twin decks in a tri-class configuration of eight seats in First Class, 48 seats in Business Class and 461 in Economy Class, featuring world-class amenities and first rate services that set it apart from other aircraft. Economy Class passengers also benefit from the added spaciousness of the A380, with higher ceilings on the main deck and a wider seat configuration and design to offer more leg room, plus contoured headrests.

As part of its continued expansion plans, Qatar Airways plans to launch an array of exciting new destinations over the coming months, including Mombasa, Kenya; Gothenburg, Sweden and Da Nang, Vietnam.

Daily Flight Schedule:

Doha (DOH)-Frankfurt (FRA) QR69 Departs: 1:35 Arrives: 7:10 (B777)

Frankfurt (FRA)-Doha (DOH) QR70 Departs: 10:55 Arrives: 17:55 (B777)

Doha (DOH)-Frankfurt (FRA) QR67 Departs: 08:05 Arrives:13:40 (A380)

Frankfurt (FRA)-Doha (DOH) QR68 Departs:17:35 Arrives: 00:35 (A380)

Top Copyright Photo (all others by the airline): Qatar Airways Airbus A380-861 A7-APA (msn 137) LHR (Rob Skinkis). Image: 925281.

Qatar Airways aircraft slide show: