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AVIATION

Lufthansa adds Asia Pacific routes, but not fuel surcharges

German airline Lufthansa said on Monday it had launched two new routes from China and Singapore, but it would not burden customers with a surcharge despite increasing fuel prices.

Published: 9 June 2008 11:28 CEST
Lufthansa adds Asia Pacific routes, but not fuel surcharges
Photo: DPA

Last week oil prices exceeded $139 per barrel, and many commercial airlines are feeling the pinch, but Lufthansa Asia and Pacific Vice President Uwe Müller told news agency AFP that the company is “in good shape.”

“We have learned our lessons… and we’re right now in a fortunate situation where there is no announcement of adjusting our yearly forecast. We have had a phenomenal first quarter,” he told AFP.

Additional flights include five flights per week between Singapore and Munich, and three weekly flights from Shenyang in China to Munich. Routes from Nanjing in China and Pune in India have also been added to the airline’s schedule.

“There will be many more to follow,” he told AFP.

In the next year the company expects flight capacity to increase by six to seven percent, Müller said. Meanwhile growth in the Asia Pacific region could grow as much as 20 percent.

ddp/afp

MALLORCA

Lufthansa fires up ‘jumbo jet’ for surge in German tourists bound for Mallorca

German airline Lufthansa said Friday it was taking "extraordinary measures" to meet surging bookings for the Spanish holiday island of Mallorca, deploying a jumbo jet to ferry passengers from Frankfurt.

Published: 11 June 2021 18:16 CEST
Lufthansa fires up 'jumbo jet' for surge in German tourists bound for Mallorca
Tourists enjoy the first days of summer on the island of Mallorca. Photo: picture alliance/dpa/AP | Francisco Ubilla

The group said it had seen a jump in reservations from German sunseekers in recent weeks, as concerns about the pandemic ease thanks to falling infection numbers and vaccination progress across Europe.

To meet demand, Lufthansa said it would swap the 215-seat Airbus A321 that usually plies the Frankfurt-Mallorca route for its Boeing 747-8 “jumbo jet”.The 747, also known as the “Queen of the Skies”, can carry 364 people and is the largest plane in Lufthansa’s fleet.

The super-large planes normally fly transatlantic routes but have been
mostly grounded since the pandemic upended air travel.

READ ALSO: ‘I really needed a break’: Pandemic-weary Germans find freedom on Mallorca

“Lufthansa is taking extraordinary measures in order to respond to a significant increase in booking demand for flights to Palma de Mallorca,” the airline said in a statement.

The jumbo jet will be used for four weekends over July and August, it added, Europe’s key summer travel season.

Mallorca is one of the most popular tourist destinations for Germans and is sometimes affectionately referred to as Germany’s “17th state”.

Before the pandemic, around five million German tourists visited the island
each year.

READ ALSO: ‘Germans are coming back’: Spaniards sceptical over return of tourists

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