- Fly directly from Düsseldorf to the Big Apple six times a week from Saturday
- World premiere: first BIZclass on the long-haul route of a low-cost airline with innovative and creative product elements and full flat reclining seats
- Establishment of a new long-haul operation in a record time of only five months by a team with the typical Eurowings start-up spirit
- Special conditions to introduce the new BIZclass with more miles from an unbeatably low EUR 799.99
A scheduled connection to New York is the highlight for every airline. Eurowings flight EW 1100 takes off for the American metropolis for the first time tomorrow (Saturday, 28 April 2018). Then the Düsseldorf-based home carrier will depart daily, apart from Tuesday, on the eight-hour flight to John F. Kennedy airport. The new operation has been prepared in record time by the long-haul experts at Belgium’s Brussels Airlines, a Eurowings Group flight operation. The New York connection, which will be operated with a four-engine long-haul Airbus A340, marks a new milestone in the Eurowings success story at Düsseldorf airport.
In addition to the rapidly growing offering of short and medium-haul routes, the market leader at NRW’s capital city airport will be able to offer 1,700 more long-haul flights per year from there and carry around 450,000 additional passengers. The Eurowings Group’s long-haul fleet in Düsseldorf is expected to expand to seven jets by the winter flight schedule 2017/18. Eurowings currently operates 40 aircraft at Düsseldorf airport, which fly more than 1,750 times a week to 95 destinations in Germany, Europe and around the world.
And the specialist for budget-priced direct flights is also raising the bar with another aspect. On launching, the Düsseldorf – New York route will offer a fully-fledged business class with full flat reclining seats for the first time in the history of low-cost aviation. The Eurowings team also implemented the development of a completely new in-flight product in record time. To introduce the Eurowings BIZclass, which can be booked at unrivalled special rates starting from EUR 799.99, customers of the Eurowings Boomerang Club or Lufthansa’s Miles & More will receive double reward miles. The special offer is already live. It applies to bookings up to 31 May and to journeys between 1 May and 31 July 2018.
“We’ve managed to build up a completely new long-haul flight operation in Düsseldorf within a matter of five months,” commented Thorsten Dirks, Lufthansa Board Member and Eurowings CEO. “That’s an organisational masterstroke achieved in record time which no-one else in the aviation industry is going to be able to copy right now. It also proves what an enormous amount of long-haul expertise Brussels Airlines is bringing with it to our Eurowings Group.”
Thomas Schnalke, spokesman for the management of Düsseldorf airport, “The signs at Eurowings point to further growth. In recent months, following the exit of Air Berlin, the airline has significantly expanded its flight offering in Düsseldorf and now has around 40 aircraft based here. We’re very pleased about this. With the launch of the connection to New York, we’re celebrating the start of the newly added US routes which the airline has restored to the summer flight schedule for the people of the Rhine-Ruhr region. There are plans to add further attractive long-haul destinations in the coming winter. This means that Eurowings remains far and away the largest strategic partner at our airport.”
“Our airport is North Rhine-Westphalia’s gateway to the world and one of the pillars of economic prosperity for the city and the region. The expanded flight offering from Eurowings means that we have fast access to the whole world. In addition to the other long-haul destinations still to come, the new connection to New York expresses the internationality of our city,” said Düsseldorf’s Mayor Thomas Geisel.
“Direct flights to the USA are essential, particularly for German-American economic relations in North Rhine-Westphalia. With its flight offering to the United States, Eurowings is making a valuable contribution towards the ability of more than 1,600 American companies based here as well as 13,500 US citizens living in NRW to travel between here and their home country. I’d like to thank the airline for taking this step and wish it always happy landings” said Michael R. Keller, US Consulate General in Düsseldorf.
The establishment of a long-haul network and introduction of the BIZclass are a logical consequence of the growth rate presented by Eurowings as it focuses on North Rhine-Westphalia. Eurowings customers from the airport’s approximately 18 million passenger catchment area will find it offers a perfect range of top quality routes at excellent prices. This makes the Düsseldorf area one of the best regions in the world for travel opportunities. Eurowings has also proven to be a major job creator. Around 4,000 direct and indirect jobs have been created in and around the airport as a result of the airline’s rapid growth. And this is notwithstanding the fact that Eurowings is also expanding and developing other German locations, such as Cologne/Bonn, Berlin, Hamburg, Munich and Stuttgart.
In future, in addition to New York, Eurowings will offer the new BIZclass from Düsseldorf to Miami and Fort Myers in the USA, Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic and Cancun in Mexico. The main BIZclass feature is a comfort seat which, at the touch of a button, can be converted automatically into a bed two metres long with a horizontal reclining surface (full flat). Complementary to this, Eurowings has integrated innovative, young partners in its catering. When booking, Eurowings BIZclass passengers can already look forward to a cold craft beer from the Munich brewery “Crew Republic” or a dry Sauvignon Blanc from the Mainz start-up “Geile Weine” [Wicked Wines].
The high-quality three-course menu chosen by the LSG Sky Chefs extends from poke bowls with salmon or tuna to soba noodles with shitake mushrooms or a traditional beef goulash. Healthy, tasty snacks from the Hamburg start-up Foodist and liquorice specialities from Denmark by Lakrids round off the new food and drinks concept of the Eurowings BIZclass.
Cologne/Bonn, Düsseldorf, 27 April 2018
