Lufthansa has begun preparation for their summer services, which will increase passenger capacity by 3.6% and increase long-haul flights by 5%.
Based on the summer schedule, Lufthansa will fly to 204 destinations. Six new destinations that have resulted from the new summer schedules include Rostock-Laage, Bari, Palermo, Zadar, Chisinau and Tashkent. Services in Europe will be reduced by 74 flights. On the other hand, intercontinental flights will be increased to 1,408 weekly flights from 1,341. Wolfgang Mayrhuber, Lufthansa’s CEO, said that the A380 should be flying “at the end of May” during the airline’s 2009 performance briefing. The A380’s destinations will be finalized in April.
Lufthansa’s A380s will employ Panasonic’s eX2 in-flight entertainment system. The eX2 will operate alongside Lufthansa Technik’s brand new NiceView passenger flight information and moving map system in the A380. Besides a state-of-the-art entertainment system, A380 passengers will also be able to enjoy broadband internet in-flight, thanks to Ku-band, satellite-based service. Lastly, passengers will also be able to make calls on their mobile phones with service from AeroMobile.
Undoubtedly the A380 will keep to CEO Mayrhuber’s expectations and enable Lufthansa to “enter a new dimension in flying”.
