Lufthansa has made some notable schedule changes concerning its flights with the Airbus A380 in the first quarter of 2027. Specifically, the Cologne-based German flag carrier and Star Alliance founding member plans to drop the superjumbo from two US routes in January and February, when demand on such corridors is traditionally at its lowest. Instead, the type will be used more extensively in Asia.
This latest news comes with the airline’s Airbus A380 fleet in the middle of a business class refurbishment program, which will see its capacity reduced in favor of giving premium passengers a better on-board experience. Still, passengers on the US routes where the A380 is temporarily being removed still have a lot to look forward to product-wise, with brand-new A350s serving these long corridors instead.
Lufthansa’s A380 Flights To California Will Temporarily Pause Next Year
According to reporting on the matter by Aero Routes, Lufthansa plans to remove the Airbus A380 from its corridor between Munich Airport (MUC) in Bavaria and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in the US state of California from January 11 to February 26, 2027. The type was originally set to operate six of the seven weekly flights on this route in that period, with the Airbus A350-900 operating the seventh.
Now, however, the A350 will operate all of this route’s flights during this period. Likewise, from January 16 to February 27, the A350 will also replace the six planned weekly A380 flights from Munich to San Francisco (SFO), giving this route daily A350 coverage. This period is one when Lufthansa often reduces its US capacity in response to seasonal demand, with a spokesperson telling Simple Flying last month:
“January [to] the end of February is traditionally considered the weakest time of the year in terms of demand. (…) To take this seasonal development into account, flight schedule adjustments are common practice.”
However, it is important to note that, while US traffic may be lower for Lufthansa in January and February, this is not the case on some of its Asian routes. With this in mind, the German flag carrier is set to use the capacity that will be freed up by dropping the A380 from its Los Angeles and San Francisco routes to instead bolster its presence on two routes to Asia out of its hub at Munich Airport.
Indeed, from January 16 to February 26, the airline will increase its Airbus A380 operations between Munich and Bangkok (BKK) from one flight a day to two. These services will depart from Munich at 4:25 PM (LH774) and 10:10 PM (LH772) every day during this period, with the return legs, LH775 and LH773, taking off from Bangkok at 10:50 AM and 11:30 PM respectively. Elsewhere, India will also see a boost.
Indeed, from January 11 to February 27, passengers flying with Lufthansa from Munich Airport to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (BOM) in the city of Mumbai can expect the Airbus A380 to operate five flights a week instead of the A350-900. India is quite an important winter destination for Lufthansa’s A380s, with the carrier having already scheduled daily flights with the type to Delhi (DEL).
The German flag carrier has reduced the number of premium seats in order to enhance the passenger experience.
Lufthansa Is Currently Retrofitting Its Airbus A380 Business Class Cabins
Lufthansa’s Airbus A380 fleet has been in the news of late on account of an ongoing cabin refurbishment program that will see its business class offerings brought in line with modern standards. Specifically, the German flag carrier is in the process of reducing the type’s business class capacity by ten seats in order to shift from a six-abreast 2-2-2 configuration to a more premium four-abreast 1-2-1 layout.
Lufthansa’s Airbus A380 Layouts (Per aeroLOPA)
The most obvious benefit of this shift is the fact that the new setup will give every business class passenger direct aisle access, whereas, in the old layout, this is not a privilege that would have been afforded to those sitting in the window seats. Lufthansa announced in April that the first of eight retrofits had been completed, with its entire A380 fleet set to be brought up to the new standards by mid-2027.
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