Lufthansa is returning to Frankfurt - Buenos Aires from Sunday 28 October after pulling off the route in February 2005. It will become the longest non-stop flight on the Lufthansa network with a scheduled time of around 13.5 hours.
Karl Ulrich Garnadt, a member of the Board of Lufthansa Passenger Airlines explained: ”Our customers have expressed a wish for this connection and I am delighted that we are able to offer it again. Overall, South America is showing strong, dynamic growth and many large German and European companies have branches there, particularly in Buenos Aires,” he said. ”At the same time, this is a clear sign that we aim to further expand our operations also from our Frankfurt hub."
Currently, rather like British Airways, Lufthansa operates via Sao Paulo. The new operation will be five times per week, while alternative routings from Europe include Iberia via Madrid and a daily service by Air France from Paris Charles de Gaulle.
With a population of 12m, Greater Buenos Aires is the largest metropolitan region in Argentina, and the second-largest in South America as a whole, after Sao Paulo. Nearly all of Germany”s blue-chip, DAX-listed companies have a branch within the catchment area of Buenos Aires, Lufthansa points out. Buenos Aires, seen above, is a most vibrant of cities.
The route will be flown by a Boeing 747-400 in a three-class configuration. Now that Lufthansa and Swiss have harmonised their timetables, various combinations of points in both Europe and South America are available. Swiss flies daily from Zurich to Sao Paulo and from there on to Santiago (Chile).
Lufthansa also operates daily services from both Frankfurt and Munich to Sao Paulo, timed to make the Swiss connection. Likewise, passengers from Chile can fly to any of the airlines' three hubs in Europe. Star Alliance, to which both partners are affiliated, does not currently have a partner in South America.