(TAN): Due to the significant changes in the booking demands of passengers, the airlines in the Lufthansa Group are switching from short-term to longer-term flight planning. The new summer timetable has already been implemented in the booking system and is thus bookable. It is valid until 24 October 2020, the end of the normal summer season.
Customers who are now 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.
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“Little by little, the borders open again. Demand is increasing, in the short term but also in the long term. 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,” said Harry Hohmeister, Member of the Executive Board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG.
The airlines will offer over 40% of their originally planned flight programme in the coming months. A total of over 380 aircraft by the Lufthansa Group carriers will be used for this purpose until October. This means that half of the Lufthansa Group’s fleet is in the air again, 200 aircraft more than in June.
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.
The core brand Lufthansa will be flying 150 frequencies on the American continent each week in summer/autumn via the hubs Frankfurt and Munich. 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. The service will be resumed by October from Munich: New York/Newark, Denver, Charlotte, Tokyo Haneda and Osaka.
In addition, the weekly availability of existing and highly demanded destinations will be increased.
Following the successful restart, the ramp-up of Austrian Airlines flight operations continues to proceed according to plan. From July onwards, Austria’s home carrier will fly to over 50 destinations. Brussels Airlines plans to operate 45% of its originally planned schedule in September and October this year.
SWISS will continue to extend its services from Zurich and Geneva over the coming weeks and months, adding further new destinations to its network in addition to its existing routes. SWISS will add 12 new European routes from Zurich in July and offer 24 new European destinations from Geneva. It will serve a total of 11 long-haul destinations from Zurich this July and 17 in October.
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Eurowings is also planning to return to 80% of its network during the summer. Following the lifting of the travel warnings and restrictions, interest in holiday destinations such as Italy, Spain, Greece and Croatia is growing. Eurowings will be flying 30 to 40% of its flight capacity in July to meet this rise in demand.
Safety and health of passengers and employees a top priority
The safety and health of employees and guests is of prime importance for the Lufthansa Group. Hence, all procedures throughout the entire travel chain have been and will continue to be reviewed in order to guarantee everyone’s safety. For the measures on the ground, the airlines of the Lufthansa Group work closely with respective airports at the home hubs and in the destination countries to ensure physical distancing and other hygiene measures.
The obligation to wear a mouth and nose mask from boarding through the flight to disembarkation is a central element of the Lufthansa Group’s hygiene concept. The service on board has been redesigned considering the duration of the flight in order to minimise interaction between guests and crew.
In addition, Lufthansa is now offering its customers an option at the airports in Frankfurt and Munich to have themselves tested for Covid-19 at short notice for flights abroad or a stay in Germany to avoid quarantine. These test centres are operated by partner companies.
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To give their customers maximum flexibility in the corona crisis, the airlines of the Lufthansa Group continue to offer numerous rebooking options. All Lufthansa, SWISS and as well Austrian Airlines fares can be rebooked – including the Economy Light fare with hand baggage only. Passengers wishing to change the travel date of their existing flight can make a one-off rebooking free of charge for the same route and the same travel class. This rule applies to tickets booked up to and including 31 August 2020 with a confirmed travel date up to and including 30 April 2021. The rebooking must be made before the originally planned date of travel.
However, before you book your flights, it is advisable to understand and follow all entry and quarantine regulations of your destinations.
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