After being grounded for over three years, Lufthansa brought back some of its Airbus A380s as of the summer of 2023. The airline is planning on progressively bringing back more of these planes, and will eventually have all eight remaining A380s back in service.
While these aircraft have already started to return to service, the airline has now revealed the routes that will be operated by the A380 all the way through the summer of 2024. Let’s go over all the details.
In this post:
Where Lufthansa A380s will be flying
As you’d expect, Lufthansa is sending its Airbus A380s onto the highest demand routes, and demand does vary seasonally. So Lufthansa has different plans for its A380s in summer and winter. Let’s cover where you can expect to find Lufthansa A380s over the next year…
Lufthansa Airbus A380 summer 2023 destinations
For the summer 2023 schedule, Lufthansa is operating the Airbus A380 on the following two routes:
- Until October 27, 2023, daily on Munich (MUC) to Boston (BOS) — LH424/425
- Until October 28, 2023, daily on Munich (MUC) to New York (JFK) — LH410/411
Lufthansa Airbus A380 winter 2023-2024 destinations
For the winter 2023 schedule, Lufthansa is operating the Airbus A380 on the following two routes:
- Between October 26, 2023, and March 29, 2024, daily on Munich (MUC) to Los Angeles (LAX) — LH452/453
- Between October 28, 2023, and March 29, 2024, daily on Munich (MUC) to Bangkok (BKK) — LH772/773
Lufthansa Airbus A380 summer 2024 destinations
For the summer 2024 schedule, Lufthansa is operating the Airbus A380 on the following five routes:
- As of March 31, 2024, daily on Munich (MUC) to Boston (BOS) — LH424/425
- As of March 31, 2024, daily on Munich (MUC) to Delhi (DEL) — LH762/763
- As of March 30, 2024, daily on Munich (MUC) to Los Angeles (LAX) — LH452/453 (continuation of winter service)
- As of March 31, 2024, daily on Munich (MUC) to New York (JFK) — LH410/411
- As of June 1, 2024, daily on Munich (MUC) to Washington (IAD) — LH414/415
The above frequencies will require six frames. Then later in 2024, it’s expected that two more A380s will rejoin Lufthansa’s fleet, so you can expect even more A380 routes.
What the Airbus A380 means for passengers
Why would passengers care if their flight is operated by the Airbus A380? The plane isn’t necessarily cutting edge in terms of passenger experience, though there are some implications. The Airbus A380 is of course the world’s largest passenger jet, and Lufthansa’s Airbus A380s feature a total of 509 seats. This includes:
- Eight first class seats, in a 1-2-1 configuration
- 78 business class seats, in a 2-2-2 configuration
- 52 premium economy seats, in a 2-4-2 configuration
- 371 economy class seats, in a 3-4-3 configuration
Lufthansa’s Airbus A380s aren’t all that remarkable, at least compared to the jets flown by some other airlines, like Emirates and Singapore Airlines. However, I’d say there are a few noteworthy things:
- This represents a significant capacity increase compared to the A340-600s and A350-900s that were scheduled to operate most of these routes; for example, if a flight swaps from an A340-600 to an A380, business class is going from 44 seats to 78 seats, which should be great for award availability
- Lufthansa’s A380 first class lavatories have urinals, making them the only urinals on commercial aircraft (I know, this is a real key reason to fly the jet) 😉
- Many appreciate economy on the A380, since the 3-4-3 layout offers passengers more space than you’d find on other jets
- Regardless of which cabin you’re traveling in, the A380 is a quiet and smooth ride
Bottom line
Lufthansa’s Airbus A380s are back in service, and more will progressively be flying over the coming months. Lufthansa is operating the A380 on two routes for both the summer 2023 and winter 2023-2024 season, and then as of the summer 2024 season we’ll see the plane operating five routes.
Eventually we’ll see eight Lufthansa Airbus A380s back in service, so by 2025 we should see even more A380 routes. It’s great to see these A380s return, and also to see Lufthansa’s first class footprint continuing to increase. I recently flew Lufthansa’s A380 first class from Munich to Boston, and had a great flight.
What do you make of Lufthansa’s Airbus A380 routes?
You really need to get the A380 back in service from IAH (Houston, TX) to FRA (Frankfurt, DE). Really loved it while it was here, and am planning another trip over in 2025. Please....
I was really hoping for Miami. I most certainly would like to fly on this aircraft. I truly hope this can become a long term service for the type. I deserves a good place in our aviation history.
why the sudden, new emphasis on MUC?
LH explained the MUC has significant F demand, but adjustments in post-covid capacity saw almost all the aircraft with F cabins consolidated to FRA.
To solves this, they're bringing back the A380s longterm, and the A340-600s short term, and stationing them solely at MUC, to get the F capacity up.
This is their publicized plan until the next batch of A350s (which will have F cabins and be based at MUC) and the 777-9s (which...
LH explained the MUC has significant F demand, but adjustments in post-covid capacity saw almost all the aircraft with F cabins consolidated to FRA.
To solves this, they're bringing back the A380s longterm, and the A340-600s short term, and stationing them solely at MUC, to get the F capacity up.
This is their publicized plan until the next batch of A350s (which will have F cabins and be based at MUC) and the 777-9s (which have have F cabins and likely be based at FRA, but will allow current FRA-based aircraft to rotate within the system) arrive.
There's a lot of money in Munich, so I'm not surprised that it can support F & big J cabins. First class to Frankfurt is a no brainer - it's the wealthiest city in Europe, so it would be natural to concentrate a limited capacity there, but the Bavarians have plenty of cash too.
Frankfurt the wealthiest city in Europe?
No SFO.., Sad!
One of the best economy class experiences I had was on LH A380. There is a mini economy class cabin at the back of upper deck. 2 (and sometimes 4) flight attendants to 30+ passengers in combination with A380's low cabin altitude and quiet cabin made for a very comfortable flight.
One of the nicest features of the LH A380 cabin configuration is the premium economy section in the nose on the lower level. It's very quiet and private, although a step down from the first class above.
Did Lucky sell the site to Capital One?
No, he said in another post it's a temporary sponsorship/partnership to promote the launch of the Venture X Business card.
It’s a shame they aren’t bringing it back to Miami.
You’d think Miami would have more premium demand than Bangkok
With airfares relatively low to SEAsia from Europe (as opposed to other parts of Asia or Oceania) and the massive demand in the winter, it isn't a surprise to see LH ramp up capacity to BKK: that time of year is not only brutal in Northern Europe, in particular, but it's also the dry season in Thailand (esp. Phuket and Krabi).
Really good to see LH dumping first class space. What is not to enjoy?
Thailand is an extremely popular destination for northern europeans.
Love seeing another A380 route from Dulles, my home airport for long-haul! And been wanting to get to Munich, too, this is great news!
Definitely just looked for biz award IAD-MUC next summer, econ only. Would love to book prem econ or biz just to ride the A380 out of my home airport (know the biz seat is 'uncompetitive').
Does anyone know what gate they will use? It was my understanding that Dulles was only equipped with two A380 capable gates - A20/22 and B42/44. They modified the second jetway at each of these gates to attach to the upper deck of an A380 while being ADA-compliant.
No Air France A380s there now. And BA cut it from their winter schedule.
So only two jetways to board 500+ PAX at IAD?
And a single jetway for some 400 PAX on the lower deck?