Lufthansa and Germanwings, a low-cost airline based in Cologne, Germany and wholly-owned by Lufthansa, are expanding their services in the forthcoming winter flight schedules, which will operate until 4 May 2014.
Germanwings will be taking over all the Lufthansa connections in Europe which are not operated through the Frankfurt and Munich hubs. Flights to 23 destinations out of Hamburg and Berlin have been earmarked for Germanwings operation: Hamburg connections to Amsterdam, Birmingham, Budapest, Geneva, London, Madrid, Milan, Manchester, Oslo, Paris, Stockholm and Zurich; Berlin flights to Birmingham, Bologna, Bucharest, Geneva, Helsinki, London, Málaga, Nuremberg, Rome, Milan and Vienna.
The transfer of flights is expected to be complete by the end of September 2014. Once the transfer has taken place, Lufthansa passengers who have already booked flights will automatically be re-booked on Germanwings.
With the Winter Olympics fast approaching, Lufthansa has added a special connection to Sochi, Russia for competitors and fans. This dedicated connection will be operated from 24 January to 17 March by an Airbus A321. Winter sports enthusiasts will be able to fly non-stop to the Olympic arenas and skiing events up to five times weekly in just three-and-a-half hours.
Services will be increased to daily flights on connections from Frankfurt to Philadelphia on the US east coast and to Dammam in Saudi Arabia to accommodate a growing demand. Lufthansa will again be flying non-stop from Munich to Cape Town, South Africa, until May 2014.
In other Africa-related news, Lufthansa is discontinuing its connections to Libreville, Gabon, and Pointe Noire, Republic of Congo in the new year, due to economic constraints.
The 15th Lufthansa lounge, in Frankfurt Airport’s Terminal 1, was opened recently near gate A26. The new business lounge will complement the existing lounges in the central Schengen area of the new A-pier.
In a modern design on the 840m2 site of the former First Class lounge, it offers an impressive view of the apron, two separate quiet rooms, three shower rooms, four detached offices, free Wi-Fi throughout the entire lounge and an assortment of refreshments.