Summary
- Brussels Airlines, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, and SWISS have added seven long-haul routes
- Some have been served before, reminiscent of SWISS resuming service to Washington Dulles after 20 years
- Others haven’t been served before, notably Lufthansa to Minneapolis and Raleigh Durham
September twelfth was an enormous day for Star Alliance’s long-haul route announcements involving Europe, all to start next summer. They got here amid many long-haul frequency changes and other developments. They include Lufthansa using the Airbus A380 between Munich and Washington Dulles, together with Frankfurt-Philadelphia returning to its own metal – replacing newly rebranded and renamed Discover Airlines.
The seven long-haul route additions
They’re summarized in the next table. Most haven’t been served by the stated carrier before, including Lufthansa to Minneapolis, the German giant from Munich to Seattle, and SWISS to Toronto. (I cannot confirm if SWISS served Toronto before 2003.)
Photo: Soos Jozsef I Shutterstock.
Nonetheless, some have been served before, reminiscent of passenger flights by Singapore Airlines to Brussels, back after 21 years, and SWISS to Washington Dulles after last serving the airport in 2003. Brussels Airlines resumes service to the Kenyan capital, having last served it in 2015.
Airline |
Route |
Start date in 2024* |
Summer flights |
Aircraft |
Comments |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Brussels Airlines |
Brussels-Nairobi |
June |
Six weekly |
A330-300 |
Resuming (see above). Some flights will probably be via Kigali |
Lufthansa |
Frankfurt-Minneapolis |
June 4th |
Five weekly |
787-9 |
May also be served by Condor |
Frankfurt-Raleigh Durham |
June sixth |
Five weekly |
A330-300 |
Brand-new |
|
Munich-Seattle |
May thirtieth |
Every day |
A350-900 |
Saw Condor in 2017 |
|
Singapore Airlines |
Singapore-Brussels |
April fifth |
4 weekly |
A350-900 |
Resuming (see above) |
SWISS |
Zurich-Toronto |
May tenth |
Five weekly |
A330-300 |
May also be served by fellow Star carrier Air Canada** |
Zurich-Washington Dulles |
March twenty eighth |
Every day |
A330-300 |
Resuming (see above). May also be served by fellow Star carrier United** |
|
* From homeland |
** Unclear if it can coexist with SWISS or get replaced |
Minneapolis has seven carriers to Europe
Lufthansa becomes the sixth European airline from Europe to Minneapolis, and the seventh overall with the addition of all-important Delta from its Minnesota hub.
Photo: Kevin Hackert | Shutterstock.
Booking data suggests an estimated 711,000 roundtrip passengers flew between Minneapolis and Europe in 2019. Minnesota appears to be of growing interest to Europeans, presumably for the large outdoors and, perhaps, the country’s largest mall. An extra 98,000+ flew to/from South Asia and the Middle East.
As of September thirteenth, and subject to alter, Minneapolis plans 77 weekly departing flights to Europe (double for each ways), based on the primary week of July 2024.
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Minneapolis flights to Europe
Delta has 47 weekly flights from Minneapolis to Europe, with Amsterdam, Dublin, Keflavik, London Heathrow, and Paris CDG served. There will probably be Air France each day to Paris CDG (resuming on April twenty ninth) and Aer Lingus 4 weekly to Dublin (also resumes on April twenty ninth).
(That is an A330-300, however the -200 will probably be used to Minneapolis.) Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Easy Flying.
Then there’s Icelandair each day to Keflavik, Lufthansa’s brand-new five-weekly service to Frankfurt, KLM 4 weekly to Amsterdam, and Condor three weekly to Frankfurt. The 77 weekly flights in July 2024 are up from 70 in the identical week in 2019. The shortage of British Airways to Minneapolis is notable, although Delta serves Heathrow.
Lufthansa follows Air France at RDU
The key European Star Alliance member will probably be the third European airline to start flights to Raleigh Durham in about two years. It joins Icelandair, which launched Keflavik service in May 2022, and Air France, which is able to take off to Paris CDG on October thirtieth, 2023, replacing Delta. American serves London Heathrow from Raleigh Durham.
Where else would you want Star carriers to serve? Tell us within the comments.