Just as was the case with many other airlines in 2020, Lufthansa retired its A380 fleet at the time. The German flag carrier just couldn’t see a future for the mega jumbo in a post-covid world. It was generally thought that air traffic wouldn’t bounce back to prior peaks. But boy were airlines and analysts wrong. Fast forward to 2024 and airlines are struggling to keep up withe demand, as supply chain issues continue to slow down new plane deliveries. This is the perfect setting for the A380 to make it comeback for many carriers, including Lufthansa.
Lufthansa Assigns Its A380 To The Munich to Washington D.C. Route
Yesterday, June 1st 2024, was the day the first Lufthansa Airbus A380 landed at IAD Washington airport. That is the first time overall LH has operated this aircraft type on the Munich to Washington route. From now on, for the foreseeable future the A380 will be the go to aircraft type for this route.
Specifically the flight number is LH414 (LH415 on the way back from the US to Munich International Airport. By no means is was it by chance that LH opted to bring in the big guns on this flight at this time. Last year transatlantic routes were by far the most profitable for US and EU carriers and the hope is that this year’s trend will be similar. Lufthansa is just, very simply, gearing up for what it hopes to be a very busy summer over the Atlantic.
Washington is therefore now Lufthansa A380’s sixth destination, you can check out which are the other five in this other post I wrote.
| Flight | From | To | Departure | Arrival | Aircraft Type | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | LH414 | Munich (MUC) | Washington (IAD) | 16:25 | 07:25 | A380 |
| LH415 | Washington (IAD) | Munich (MUC) | 22:20 | 12:20 | A380 |
An Aircraft Upgrade On The Munich Washington Route
Introducing the Airbus A380 on the Munich to Washington flight is quite the upgrade in terms of aircraft type. Until now LH414 was flown using an Airbus A340-600. By no means a small plane, but nowhere near the capacity of the A380. However there is one major drawback to the LH A380, which particularly affects business class travellers. The plane features the old and outdated configuration offering a 2-2-2 layout which unfortunately provides little to no privacy to each and every passenger.
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