Lufthansa will open a new route between Johannesburg and Munich, Germany, next month. The German Airline, the second-largest in Europe, will start flying the new route on Tuesday, September 3. The new route will have three flights per week and will be year-round.
Lufthansa will operate an A350-900 for the route, with business, premium economy and economy classes. South Africans will thus have two direct flights to Germany from Johannesburg, with Lufthansa already offering a direct flight to Frankfurt. The German Airline will also have a direct flight between Cape Town and Munich, which will start flying in November.
Unlike the year-round Johannesburg flight, the Cape Town flight will only be seasonal. Lufthansa told BuinsessTech that due to current demand, the flights between Cape Town and Munich would only operate in the summer of the Southern Hemisphere. Lufthansa said that it will increase the Cape Town and Munich connection to daily departures starting next summer.
The German Airline previously announced that its new luxury Allegris First and Business Class cabins will be featured on the Cape Town and Munich routes. Munich is one of the biggest cities in Germany. It is primarily known for Oktoberfest and its football/soccer team, Bayern Munich.
Several large international companies are also headquartered in the Munich area, such as BMW, Siemens and Allianz. The routes between Johannesburg and Munich are just some of the new long-haul international flights coming to South Africa. South African Airways (SAA) started flying to Perth, Australia, in April of this year.
In July, SAA interim CEO John Lamola said that the company plans to add nine destinations to its existing 14 and increase the number of its aircraft by 50% to 21 by March. Despite a recent private equity deal with the Takatso Consortium falling through, the state-owned company said that it has the cash to fund the expansion. Lamola added the carrier also plans to open routes to Frankfurt, Munich, London, and cities on the east coast of the US, but these new routes will only be considered in the year ending March 2028.
Qantas and Perth Airport also announced that they are working on a massive commercial agreement. The airline is also planning to launch a flight between Perth and Joburg. The commercial agreement will invest AU$3 billion (+R35 billion) over 12 years, and Qantas plans to add routes to Johannesburg and Auckland, subject to meeting border agency requirements.
Looking into the more immediate future, low-cost Norwegian airline Norse Atlantic Airways announced that it will launch a new route connecting London Gatwick Airport with Cape Town International Airport on October 28, 2024. “We are thrilled to introduce our new route between London and Cape Town. “By breaking the duopoly (Virgin Atlantic and British Airways) on this route, we are not only expanding travel options for consumers but also driving down costs and putting the customer back in the pilot’s seat,” said Bjorn Tore Larsen, CEO of Norse Atlantic Airways.
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