Lufthansa and Air Dolomiti to cut four European routes from winter

From October 25, the start of the winter flight schedule, the Lufthansa Group is cutting routes from Frankfurt to Nantes, Munich to Istanbul, Frankfurt to Trieste, and Munich to Genoa. This was reported by Airways.cz, citing aeroroutes.com.

Lufthansa and Air Dolomiti to cut four European routes from winter
© André Gerwing · „Airbus A320-271N (c-n 7103, D-AINE) 2018-10-12 Andre Gerwing Collection ID 019319" · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source · resized

The Frankfurt–Nantes route is currently flown by Lufthansa once daily using Airbus A319 aircraft. Nantes is also served from Munich three times a week, but that route was only introduced as a seasonal summer service. Once the Frankfurt route is dropped, Nantes will disappear entirely from the group's winter offering.

Lufthansa will also end its Munich–Istanbul route on October 25, currently operated once daily with Airbus A320neo aircraft. By contrast, two other daily direct flights between Istanbul and Frankfurt are, according to available information, set to continue in the winter season.

The Frankfurt–Trieste route will also be discontinued; it is currently operated twice daily by subsidiary Air Dolomiti. Meanwhile, sister carrier ITA Airways flies between Trieste and its hub in Rome four times daily using Airbus A220 aircraft, and these flights are set to continue through the winter season.

The fourth route being cut is the connection between Munich and Genoa, currently served by two daily flights alternating between Air Dolomiti and Lufthansa. From Genoa too, however, ITA Airways flies four times daily to Rome using Airbus A220 aircraft. In addition, carrier Discover Airlines is set to launch direct flights to Genoa on Saturdays and Sundays next spring.

The route cuts are part of a broader optimization of the Lufthansa Group's European network. The aim is to scale back connecting flights to destinations served from multiple group hubs simultaneously where passenger uptake is lower, while better-utilized connecting routes - as is the case with Istanbul, Trieste and Genoa - are set to be retained. This partly applies to Nantes as well, where Lufthansa plans to resume three weekly direct flights from Munich starting next summer season.

Frankfurt–Nantes
1x daily, A319 discontinued from October 25
Munich–Istanbul
1x daily, A320neo discontinued from October 25
Frankfurt–Trieste
2x daily, Air Dolomiti discontinued from October 25
Munich–Genoa
2x daily, Air Dolomiti/LH discontinued from October 25

Airways.cz