Good news for those readers who plan to visit Thailand this winter.
Lufthansa will be deploying one of its A380s on a daily service between Munich and Bangkok effective October 29. Flights are now displayed on lufthansa.com.
The German airline’s deployment of the superjumbo on this popular route is in stark contrast to British Airways.
BA suspended its Bangkok passenger route during the pandemic and cannot say when or if this service will resume.
Certainly when we reported on the BA news some months ago there were many comments from readers. Some were disappointed at BA’s decision.
Readers wishing to take a nonstop flight from the UK currently have a choice of Thai Airways or Taiwan’s EVA Air. Both depart London Heathrow.
For Lufthansa, utilising the A380 on this route is a way of accommodating European travellers to Bangkok during the peak winter season in Thailand.
Note that the German carrier will also operate its A380 to Los Angeles from Munich this winter.
Quoted by Aerotelegraph, CEO Jens Ritter notes:
“The demand for tickets is particularly high on those routes.
“With 509 seats the A380 can accommodate 70 per cent more guests than the A340-600. It also consumes 23 per cent less fuel.”
Aerotelegraph reports that the A380 will enable Lufthansa to provide an additional 50,000 seats this year and at least one million next year.
The A380 is viewed as a “temporary growth engine”, but nothing is certain in aviation. Look at Qatar Airways and its A380s, so there may be a change – who knows at this stage?
Some of you may baulk at the fact that Lufthansa is rostering its A380s out of Munich rather than Frankfurt.
But as I have explained before, before the pandemic Lufthansa had already moved its A380s away from its Frankfurt in order to boost its Bavarian hub.
I must stress that flight times are geared to the needs of connecting travellers from the UK and mainland Europe (even for those who may be using surface transport from neighbouring countries).
Schedules from October 29 are:
- Munich-Bangkok 2220-1455 (following day arrival)
- Bangkok-Munich 2340-0550 (following day arrival)
Flight times are 10 hours 35 minutes to Bangkok and 12 hours 10 minutes back to Munich.