Lufthansa Group is expanding its U.S. presence in 2024, adding two new destinations for Lufthansa: Raleigh-Durham, N.C., and Minneapolis-St. Paul. Also, Swiss will add a U.S. destination: Washington, D.C.
Commencing in early June, an Airbus A330 will service Raleigh-Durham year-round with five weekly flights to and from Frankfurt. Raleigh-Durham's research facilities and emerging technology companies make the new route an important conduit for academics and business travelers, Lufthansa said.
With this addition in North Carolina, Lufthansa will now have two gateways in the state. Lufthansa has served Charlotte for nearly two decades, linking the city to Munich.
Lufthansa will fly a Boeing 787 five times per week and year-round between Minneapolis and Frankfurt, beginning the first week of June.
The German airline will have 27 U.S. gateways with the addition of Minneapolis and Raleigh-Durham.
A new gateway for the A380
Also, in an expansion of operations at Washington Dulles, Lufthansa will fly the A380 to the airport for the first time with service to Munich during the peak months of the summer season.
Lufthansa's A380 aircraft seats 509 passengers in a four-class configuration: eight seats in first, 78 seats in business, 52 seats in premium economy and 371 in economy.
Further, the airline will commence direct flights from Seattle to Munich, complementing Seattle-Frankfurt service. Seattle-Munich will operate daily in the summer with an A350-900 plane.
'A long-awaited connection'
Lufthansa Group VP of passenger sales for the Americas Dirk Janzen called Swiss' new Washington Dulles-Zurich service a 'long-awaited connection" with the U.S. capital increasing in popularity for both inbound and outbound travel.
Daily flights will begin on March 28 and join existing D.C. service to Brussels, Frankfurt, Munich and Vienna by sister carriers Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines.
Lufthansa will increase the number of flights from Austin and Dallas/Fort Worth to Frankfurt. San Diego-Munich will increase to daily flights, more than doubling the current offering with the A350-900.