Summary
- Lufthansa now operates between London Heathrow and Salzburg, its only entirely separate route that does not touch Germany.
- Despite Brexit, Lufthansa can still operate this as UK-EU traffic rights remain open and liberal.
- Such services are highly unusual for full-service carriers and network airlines.
EU open skies mean that any airline from any member country can fly to, from, or inside other EU states on flights that don’t touch their homeland. It underpins the giants Ryanair, easyJet, and Wizz Air, without which they’d each be a fraction of their size.
While it also applies to full-service airlines and network carriers, it’s scarcely done. There are lots of reasons for this, including specializing in hubs, branding, and awareness. Perhaps probably the most famous examples are Air France’s short-lived standalone service between London Heathrow and Los Angeles, which also benefited from EU-US open skies, and the short-lived Lufthansa Italia at Milan Malpensa.
Now, only one Lufthansa route…
Evaluation of Lufthansa’s entire network using OAG data indicates that it has one route that’s entirely separate from its German operations.
Photo: Markus Mainka | Shutterstock
As you’ll appreciate, this has nothing to do with fifth freedom traffic rights. In spite of everything, many airlines have such one-stop services, including Lufthansa. Fifth freedom flights all begin and end in an airline’s home country and share the identical flight number, the definition of a ‘direct’ route.
Launched on December sixteenth and running on Saturdays until March thirtieth, Lufthansa operates weekly between London Heathrow and Salzburg, Austria’s second-busiest airport. The town is legendary because the birthplace of Mozart, the situation of the Sound of Music, its UNESCO heritage center, and its mountainous backdrop. It’s extremely popular for skiing.
Photo: Karolis Kavolelis | Shutterstock
The way it is scheduled
It’s as follows, with all times local:
- Salzburg to London Heathrow: LH2673, 11:10-14:20 (2h 10m block)
- London Heathrow to Salzburg: LH2678, 15:55-17:05 (2h 10m)
Photo: Lufthansa
The operating 180-seat Airbus A320neo relies in Munich. It arrives in Heathrow at 10:25 as LH2472, before LH2673 leaves for Salzburg. After arriving back within the UK at 17:05, LH2479 departs for Bavaria at 17:50, arriving back at 20:40. The Austrian route is entirely separate and is scheduled as a part of a so-called ‘W’ pattern.
Hang on: what?
Lufthansa could have as many such routes from EU countries because it wanted. But, as , the UK is not any longer within the EU. While I’m not an authority on traffic rights, its Austrian route is feasible as UK-EU traffic rights remain open and liberal.
Photo: Karolis Kavolelis | Shutterstock
There are infinite examples demonstrating this that involve Ryanair. Consider the pan-European giant’s first flight from London Stansted to Hamburg on December twenty ninth as only one illustration of this.
Based on Flightradar24, FR1518 left at 06:18, with ‘FR’ being the IATA code for the carrier’s original unit that uses an Irish air operator’s certificate (AOC). It was operated by EI-EKR, a 13.9-year-old 737-800, with ‘EI’ being the Irish registration and, again, on the carrier’s Irish AOC.
It that any EU carrier can fly from member states to the UK, as is now done by Lufthansa. Evidently, Ryanair doesn’t at all times need to make use of its UK AOC, which it created in response to the uncertainty surrounding Brexit.
What do you make of all of it? Tell us within the comments section.