Lufthansa announced today that it will reduce the frequency of flights between Frankfurt and Tokyo Narita as well as ‘downgauge’ the aircraft used on the route.
Beginning March 27, Frankfurt – Tokyo Narita will be reduced from 7x/week to 3x/week. The 747-400 that currently serves the route will be replaced by an Airbus A340-300.
The flight schedule is as follows:
LH710 departs Frankfurt at 1:40p and arrives in Tokyo at 8:15 the following morning (Tuesday, Friday, Sunday).
LH711 departs Tokyo at 9:40a and arrives in Frankfurt at 3:00p (Monday, Wednesday, Saturday).
There is no change to the daily service between Frankfurt and Tokyo Haneda, currently flown by a 747-8i.
Can’t say this surprises me. Tokyo has to be the the only long-haul destination with seemingly endless Miles & More award availability in every class on every flight. Looks like thy simply can’t fill the aircraft.
Travel originating in Japan would most likely take ANA to Germany over LH too, so makes sense to deploy larger aircraft elsewhere.