Tourism & Hospitality | Tuesday 30 April, 2019 1:37 am |

Further strengthening its position as a leading European airline in the Middle East region, Lufthansa has reached a new milestone in its history with the company celebrating the 50th-anniversary of connecting Jeddah and Frankfurt. 

Since 1969, Lufthansa has transported passengers between the Kingdom’s port city and the airline’s largest hub in Germany. Recently, at the end of 2018, the airline also increased its seat capacity between Frankfurt and Jeddah by 33%, currently operating six weekly connections. Ahead of its 50th-anniversary milestone, the airline also adjusted its schedule from Frankfurt to Jeddah in order to offer even more connections through its main hub to Jeddah. As a result of the improved schedule, five additional destinations from the United States of America are now conveniently connected to Jeddah (Denver, Los Angeles, Orlando, San Diego, San Francisco). The route is operated by a wide-body Airbus A330-300 seating 255 passengers, offering customers increased capacity in Business, Premium Economy and Economy classes. 

 “We are delighted as we celebrate this historical milestone in our successful journey lasting over half a century with our customers traveling to and from Jeddah. Our constant efforts to provide unrivaled travel experiences by enhancing our offerings and increasing connectivity have been central to this achievement. Lufthansa forms the leading Aviation Group in Europe. We want to be the first choice for our customers in Jeddah who are looking for high quality and reliability,” said Dr. Stefan Kreuzpaintner, Vice President Sales Europe, Middle East & Africa Lufthansa Group at the press conference. 

Thanks to its close proximity to the holy city of Mecca, Jeddah continues to be the preferred arrival point for the majority of pilgrims traveling on Lufthansa from all over the world. Offering easy access to several business hubs and touristic attractions, King Abdulaziz International Airport also attracts a significant number of corporate and leisure travelers from the airline’s world-wide network.

Mark Pey, General Manager Sales Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, Lufthansa Group, said: “The steady growth we have been witnessing in Jeddah’s inbound and outbound travel over the last decades, with an increasing number of passengers connecting to their final destination at our hubs, shows the importance of this port city, which is one of the key destinations of pilgrims as well as corporate-and educational travel. With a double-digit capacity increase for the Jeddah route, we will grow even faster now, which is also driven by a large population of passionate travelers who love exploring new experiences.”

In North America, Toronto, Vancouver and Boston are the leading origin destinations for Jeddah-bound passengers on Lufthansa, while Frankfurt, Dublin and Berlin account for the largest number of the airline’s travelers from Europe. In 2018, the airline’s top five destinations out of Jeddah have been Frankfurt, Munich, Paris, Berlin and Toronto. In addition to direct flights from Jeddah, Lufthansa operates daily nonstop flights to Frankfurt from Riyadh and from Dammam, amounting to 20 weekly flights from Saudi Arabia to the business and financial center of Germany.

With its ambitious roadmap to the future, Lufthansa will further increase its investment in technology and innovation. The company has plans to develop new websites and mobile apps to promote digitization and already offers Wi-Fi connectivity to improve the travel experience on all of its flights. Similarly, the airline will introduce a new cabin experience with its Boeing 777 -9 fleet set to be delivered in 2020. In addition, as part of its endeavors aimed at ensuring long-term sustainable growth, Lufthansa has recently ordered 40 state-of-the-art long-haul aircraft.