by Lufthansa Flyer | Jul 15, 2013 | Airlines |
This week’s update includes route announcements from 8 carriers. Perhaps the most ‘noteworthy’ news came from United who announced the cancelation of their Newark – Istanbul and Newark – Buenos Aires routes effective in October and September, respectively.
AIR CANADA:
Calgary – Red Deer effective September 3 will BEGIN 3x/day service.
Vancouver – Honolulu effective October 27 will be reduced from 1x/day to 6x/WEEK.
AIR CHINA:
Dongsheng – Hong Kong effective July 19 will BEGIN 2x/week service.
EGYPTAIR:
Cairo – Tokyo(NRT) effective July 11 is CANCELLED. Service to resume November 1 (2x/week).
ETHIOPIAN:
Addis Ababa – Munich – Stockholm effective December 1 will BEGIN 1x/day service.
Addis Ababa – Paris – Brussels effective December 1 is CANCELLED. Going forward from December 1 it will only be Addis Ababa-Paris.
THAI AIRWAYS:
Bangkok-Johannesburg effective between July 27 and September 19 is reduced from 4x/week to 3x/week.
Bangkok-Milan effective between October 27 – December 7 AND January 21 – March 29 will be reduced from 4x/week to 3x/week.
Bangkok-Nagoya effective October 27 will increase from 12x/week to 14x/week.
TURKISH:
Istanbul(IST)-Kastamonu effective July 5 BEGAN 4x/week service.
Istanbul – Kilimanjaro – Mombasa effective October 27 will increase from 5x/week to 1x/DAY.
UNITED:
Newark – Buenos Aires effective September 29 is CANCELLED.
Newark – Istanbul(IST) effective October 26 is CANCELLED.
US AIRWAYS:
Phoenix – Miami effective October 27 will BEGIN 1x/day service.
Phoenix – New York (JFK) effective October 3 will increase from 3x/day to 4x/day.
PREVIOUS STAR ALLIANCE ROUTE ANNOUNCEMENTS
Courtesy: www.AirlineRoute.net
by Lufthansa Flyer | Jul 12, 2013 | Airlines |
In case you missed my post from June 24, let this serve as a reminder that Lufthansa’s 747-8i will fly to Chicago tomorrow (July 13). This flight is a regularly scheduled flight and will operate as LH 430 from Frankfurt departing at 10:45a Frankfurt time and arrive in Chicago at 12:20p. It will depart Chicago as flight LH 431 at 4:40p and arrive in Frankfurt at 7:35a the following morning.
Boeing 747-8i ‘D-ABYA’ joined the fleet in May 2012 and is nicknamed “Brandenburg”.
The reason for this one-time visit is to demonstrate that the aircraft can safely operate in the tight confines of O’Hare. The FAA and Lufthansa have been discussing bringing the 747-8i to Chicago for several weeks and have agreed to this ‘test-flight’. The 747-8i will be perhaps the largest aircraft ever to visit O’hare. The FAA has had concerns about the 747-8i being able to taxi from O’Hare’s Terminal 5 (International Terminal) to Terminal 1. If you are not familiar with Lufthansa’s operations at O’Hare, their flights arrive from Germany and passengers deplane in Terminal 5 (where immigration/passport control is located). When the plane is emptied, it is taxied to Terminal 1 / Concourse B and is prepared for departure. The issue is the 747-8i’s ability to safely taxi from Terminal 5 to Terminal 1 since there are a few tight corners that have to be navigated between the 2 terminals.
D-ABYD (Lufthansa’s 3rd 747-8i) departing Frankfurt
Lufthansa has held fast to its desire to have their flights depart from Terminal 1 instead of Terminal 5 (as most international carriers operating in O’Hare) because of passenger convenience. Being a Star Alliance member, departing from Terminal 1 makes it very easy for passengers to connect from their United flights to their Lufthansa flights without going through additional security. If the FAA does not approve the 747-8i to use Terminal 1, it would force all passengers arriving to O’Hare on United flights to leave Terminal 1, take a tram to Terminal 5 and be subjected to security for a second time during their travels, making it quite inconvenient and quite honestly, annoying. This is something Lufthansa does not want to happen since it puts additional stress on passengers, especially those with tight connecting times between flights.
No doubt that Lufthansa will be able to demonstrate to the FAA that the 747-8i can operate safely in O’Hare and hopefully lead to the 747-8i to be a permanent fixture in Chicago.
D-ABYG departing Frankfurt
by Lufthansa Flyer | Jul 10, 2013 | Airlines |
Lufthansa has announced that Mexico City (MEX) will become the next destination to see the 747-8
The 747-8i will begin to fly to Mexico city in early September (Sept 5 or 6) and will replace the 747-400 that currently flies the route.
On a side note, this also officially closes my contest for guessing LH’s next non-USA 747-8i destination. Unfortunately no one suspected that it would be MEX!
