With yesterday’s attention surrounding the unveiling of Lufthansa’s New Business Class, I did not have a chance to share this news from Lufthansa.

In a press release from Lufthansa, they’ve announced updates involving the Summer 2012 timetable. Many of the new connections are attributed to new operations beginning June 3 from Berlin’s new Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER). I had covered most of these route changes in my Airline Route Updates but this is an excellent summary that expands on those previous route updates.

The Release:

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61 new connections in Lufthansa’s summer timetable
Five new destinations and 61 new connections – Services to and from Berlin increased fourfold – New seasonal tourist destinations

East Meadow, NY, March 8, 2012 – With its new summer timetable, Lufthansa is further increasing its flight offerings, particularly from Berlin to seasonal holiday destinations in Europe. In the long-haul sector, two new destinations will be added to Lufthansa’s network in China, the most densely populated country in Asia.

Lufthansa customers will still be able to rely on Lufthansa’s extensive global route network. In the new summer timetable, Lufthansa will operate flights to 216 destinations in 83 countries (compared to 211 destinations in 84 countries in 2011). “Never before have we been able to offer our customers so many connections to such a large number of destinations,” said Jens Bischof, member of the Lufthansa German Airlines Board. “From June onwards, we will massively increase our offer of non-stop connections to more than a thousand take-offs and landings per week.”

The summer timetable is effective from March 25 until October 27, 2012.

Fourfold increase in flights from Berlin’s new international airport
The opening of Germany’s largest airport – Berlin Brandenburg (BER) – on June 3, 2012, will mark a new chapter for Lufthansa. From that date, the airline will offer 28 new, non-stop connections, thus expanding its route network to and from the German capital from eleven to 39 routes (26 routes to European destinations and two new routes from Berlin to the Middle East). If one includes the services provided by the Lufthansa German Airlines Group and the Star Alliance partners, passengers departing from Berlin will then have a choice of fast, convenient, non-stop connections to almost 50 destinations in Europe, the Middle East and North America. This represents a fourfold increase in services operated from Berlin, compared to the previous timetable. Seating capacity at Berlin will increase by more than 40 percent.

Non-stop frequencies from Berlin to the most important and popular European cities will be increased in the future, in many cases with outward flights in the morning and return flights in the evening. New Lufthansa destinations that were previously not served non-stop from Berlin include Valencia, Bologna, Birmingham and Beirut. At the same time, Lufthansa will also introduce a new pricing system that has been specially developed for the Berlin market. For the first time, fares for all Lufthansa flights between Berlin and European destinations will start as low as 49 euros – one way, all inclusive. All aircraft deployed on these routes will be configured in a two-class layout, i.e. with Business Class and Economy Class.

New destinations in China
With the introduction of the summer timetable, services will be resumed to Shenyang in northeastern China. From there, the flight will continue on to Qingdao (formerly known as Tsingtao) on China’s eastern seaboard, linking the city to Lufthansa’s route network for the first time. Lufthansa is thus increasing its presence in the fast-growing Chinese market and expanding its network coverage in mainland China. Shenyang, a city with a population of seven million, lies about 430 miles from Beijing and is one of China’s largest industrial centers. The economic structure of the region is dominated by automobile and aircraft manufacturing, as well as by the chemical industry and the IT sector. Qingdao has a population of almost nine million. Thanks to its deep-water harbor, the city is of key importance to the oil-refining industry and goods traffic in the entire Shandong Peninsula on China’s eastern coastline. The port is the third largest in China and the ninth largest worldwide. Qingdao is also one of China’s most popular beach resorts.

Holiday flight program further expanded
This summer, Lufthansa will focus heavily on seasonal connections to popular holiday resorts. The airline is adding four new, attractive holiday destinations to its network: Knock (Ireland), Montpellier (France), Odessa (Ukraine) and Pula (Croatia). For leisure travelers, Lufthansa is also offering a wide choice of new seasonal connections to European resorts, including 17 new routes from Düsseldorf, six from Hamburg, 18 from Munich and 16 from Frankfurt. “During the most popular time of the year, Lufthansa will provide its usual reliability, an all-round service and thus a relaxing trip for leisure travelers journeying to beach or mountain resorts,” explained Jens Bischof. “In the Mediterranean alone, 29 Lufthansa destinations line the coast like a string of pearls. Furthermore, summer visitors can quickly reach ten attractive destinations in the North Sea and the Atlantic with Lufthansa’s non-stop flights. The majority of Europe’s most beautiful cities are served several times a day, making them ideal for a short break.”

Recently, due to economic reasons, Lufthansa has withdrawn its services to Guangzhou in China, Kolkata and Hyderabad in India, Klagenfurt in Austria, Calgary in Canada and Bursa in Turkey. Calgary is now served by Air Canada.

Along with Lufthansa, the Lufthansa Group airlines – Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines and SWISS – serve a total of 283 destinations in 105 countries on four continents via their hubs at Brussels, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Munich, Vienna and Zurich. The carriers also supplement their own services with numerous codeshare flights.

The new routes and destinations in the 2012 summer timetable

Berlin (BER)* – Barcelona
Berlin (BER)* – Bastia
Berlin (BER)* – Beirut
Berlin (BER)*– Bergen
Berlin (BER)* – Birmingham
Berlin (BER)* – Bologna
Berlin – Budapest
Berlin (BER)* – Bucharest
Berlin (BER)* – Catania
Berlin (BER)* – Dubrovnik
Berlin (BER)* – Geneva
Berlin (BER)* – Helsinki
Berlin (BER)* – Istanbul
Berlin (BER)* – Izmir
Berlin (BER)* – London Heathrow
Berlin (BER)* – Lyon
Berlin (BER)* – Milan Linate
Berlin (BER)* – Málaga
Berlin (BER)* – Manchester
Berlin (BER)* – Moscow Vnukovo
(change of airport)
Berlin (BER)* – Nice
Berlin (BER)* – Palma de Mallorca
Berlin (BER)* – Reykjavik
Berlin (BER)* – Rome
Berlin (BER)* – Split
Berlin (BER)* – Stockholm
Berlin (BER)* – Tel Aviv
Berlin (BER)*– Valencia
Berlin (BER)* – Westerland/Sylt
Berlin (BER)* – Vienna
Berlin (BER)* – Zadar
Berlin (BER)* – Zagreb
Düsseldorf – Bari
Düsseldorf – Bologna
Düsseldorf – Catania
Düsseldorf – Dublin
Düsseldorf – Helsinki
Düsseldorf – Ibiza
Düsseldorf – Knock
Düsseldorf – Krakow
Düsseldorf – Málaga
Düsseldorf – Poznan
Düsseldorf – Zadar
Düsseldorf – Westerland/Sylt
Frankfurt – Antalya
Frankfurt – Ankara
Frankfurt – Dubrovnik
Frankfurt – Moscow Vnukovo
(change of airport)
Frankfurt – Shenyang Qingdao
Hamburg – Budapest
Hamburg – Dubrovnik
Hamburg – Jersey
Hamburg – Naples
Hamburg – St. Petersburg
Hamburg – Venice
Munich – Bastia
Munich – Jersey
Munich – Montpellier (seasonal)
Munich – Odessa
Munich – Pula (seasonal)
Munich – Valencia