As airBerlin starts to fade away, there are still routes that need to be filled – one of those is the Berlin Tegel to New York JFK route.
Lufthansa Airbus A330-300 at Frankfurt Airport – Image, Economy Class and Beyond
Lufthansa has chosen to fill it in – and rather than getting Eurowings to do its work for it, a Lufthansa mainline aircraft will be doing the heavy lift
Operations have been published, with the airline planning a five times a week operation from the 8th November 2018:
LH406 DEPART TXL 17:35 ARRIVE JFK 21:35 LH407 DEPART JFK 23:20 ARRIVE TXL 12:15+1 Operates Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday Booked Equipment: Airbus A330-300 Data: Lufthansa.com
For Lufthansa, it will be the first time the airline has based a long haul aircraft at Berlin Tegel. The plane will be a three-class A330-300, offering Business, Premium Economy and Economy Class on this plane.
In the initial phase, Lufthansa will also operate between Dusseldorf and Miami too – and at a later date, transfer this operation over to Eurowings
LH496 DEPART DUS 12:05 ARRIVE MIA 17:50 LH497 DEPART MIA 19:30 ARRIVE DUS 21:30 Commences 8th November 2017 Operates Monday, Wednesday and Fridays Booked Equipment: Airbus A330-300
Ultimately, for now – passengers will be doing a lot more connecting if they want to fly using Lufthansa (or another oneworld carrier if they want to continue their oneworld affiliation).
But it’s better than no flight at all.
Currently, the only competition left will be the United Airlines service that connects to Newark International Airport to the New York area, whilst the Miami route will have no competition at all.
Whilst not filling in the entire gap that airBerlin has left behind, it reintroduces connectivity between cities. With Eurowings also planning to expand its footprint in the Dusseldorf/Cologne-Bonn Airport area (and that’s a big area considering that’s two major outposts of Eurowings), long haul operations will take time to return to a sense of normality.
Tickets for both routes are on sale now.
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“For Lufthansa, it will be the first time the airline has based a long haul aircraft at Berlin Tegel.“ I don’t believe that’s correct. If memory serves Lufthans operated at least one other long-haul route before, between Tegel and Washington Dulles using an A340-300 around 2002 or 2003:although the route didn’t last long.