New Route of the Day – Americas (30 March 2022): Lufthansa between Munich and San Diego
Lufthansa now serves San Diego in California from Munich rather than Frankfurt. The German flag-carrier had served the southern Californian city from its primary hub from March 2018 until the onset of the pandemic in March 2020. Now, after a two-year hiatus, San Diego is back on Lufthansa’s route map, but this time served from its second hub in Bavaria. Flights will operate 3-weekly initially, increasing to 5-weekly in May using the Star Alliance carrier’s A350-900s. The aircraft has 293 seats in a three-class configuration offering 48 seats in business class, 21 seats in premium economy, and 224 seats in economy.
Prior to Lufthansa launching its Frankfurt service, Condor had connected the German financial centre and San Diego between May 2017 and October 2017 using its 767s. The only other airline connecting Europe and San Diego with non-stop service this summer is British Airways, which is offering a daily service from London LHR.
What they said
Kimberly Becker, President and CEO, San Diego County Regional Airport Authority, said: “We are happy to welcome Lufthansa back to San Diego and celebrate the first flight to Munich. San Diego has many economic ties to Munich as well as tourism interests. This new route provides an essential pathway between our two countries and serves as a gateway to Europe and beyond. We thank Lufthansa for their continued support.”
Don Bunkenburg, Senior Director of Sales US, Central, West and Central America, Lufthansa Group, added: “The United States is one of our most important markets and California remains a top priority for expansion in the US. With a robust economy and thriving corporate landscape, San Diego is the perfect gateway for our new service to Munich, Europe’s leading 5-star airport and one of our main hubs in Germany. Furthermore, our customers flying to and from San Diego will be able to experience quality service on our flagship aircraft – the state-of-the-art Airbus A350 aircraft.”
Lufthansa’s 10th US route from Munich
The new San Diego service brings to 10 the number of US destinations now served non-stop this summer by Lufthansa. The other nine (all served daily in August) are Boston, Charlotte, Chicago ORD (served 2-daily), Denver, Los Angeles, New York EWR, New York JFK, San Francisco and Washington IAD. From Frankfurt, Lufthansa will be serving 18 US destinations non-stop this summer, while its leisure brand Eurowings Discover will serve an additional five US destinations (Anchorage, Fort Myers, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City and Tampa). Eurowings Discover has also recently started serving Las Vegas from Munich.