Eurowings is bringing low-cost long-haul to Munich. Following the strong expansion of low-cost European flights, particularly as a result of renting 33 aircraft from its cooperation partner Air Berlin, Eurowings is now also providing a broader base for the long-haul business. Only eighteen months after launching the first low-cost long-haul routes at Eurowings home airport Cologne/Bonn, the decision has been made to create a second long-haul base, this time in the south of Germany. Next year, Eurowings will come to Munich with three long-haul Airbus A330 aircraft (summer flight schedule 2018 onwards).
“In view of this positive development in the south of Germany, Eurowings has decided to extend this success to long-haul routes and to reinforce Munich as the new Eurowings location. With the expansion of long-haul offering in Munich, we’re positioning ourselves once again as a driver for growth in the Lufthansa Group,” is how Oliver Wagner, CCO of Eurowings, sees it.
With the new long-haul connections, Munich airport will significantly increase thier share of fast-growing low-cost traffic. Eurowings is planning long-haul routes with a tourist slant which are heavily focused on private travellers and are not yet operated by Lufthansa from Munich. In the course of this expansion three Airbus A330 aircraft, which have so far operated from Cologne/Bonn, will be relocated to Munich.
The decision has been fuelled by the strong demand for Eurowings flights from southern Germany. The decision to establish a location in Munich at the end of 2016 has been the largest step in the Eurowings expansion plan so far. Never before has the airline launched from a base with four aircraft and more than 30 new European connections at the same time. This portfolio expansion is already paying dividends. Since the sales launch in late 2016, bookings for the Eurowings low-cost European flights to and from Munich, have significantly outstripped expectations. For this reason, it is expected that the number of aircraft will be further increased from the current four Airbus A320s in the coming year.
Dr. Michael Kerkloh, CEO of Flughafen München GmbH, “Following the very successful launch at its new Munich base, from next summer Eurowings will expand its flight offering from here to long-haul traffic. This will give travellers from the catchment area around our airport the opportunity to book a long-haul flight with a low-cost airline flying out of Munich. I am sure this offering will be met with huge demand.”
The following destinations can now be booked from Munich on the Internet at www.eurowings.com: Bangkok, Las Vegas, Fort Myers, Windhoek, Mauritius (twice a week), Varadero, Montego Bay, Puerto Plata, Cancun and Punta Cana (once a week). The first flight to the American casino city of Las Vegas will take off on 16 April.
The Cologne/Bonn location continues to remain as Eurowings’ home base and, with capacity utilisation rates approaching 90 percent and almost 800,000 seats sold on long-haul routes, it plays a key part in long-haul operations.
The focus in Cologne/Bonn will continue to be placed on Caribbean and North American routes. Flights to Punta Cana, Varadero, Cancun, Puerto Plata, Montego Bay and Seattle will be operated from Cologne/Bonn twice a week in summer 2018. The flights can be booked from EUR 199.99 each way.
There will also be flights once a week to Bangkok, Las Vegas, Fort Myers, Windhoek, Mauritius and Havana.
Addition of the seventh long-haul Airbus is planned for summer 2018 and it too will be stationed at Cologne/Bonn airport.
Eurowings continues to expect a high passenger load factor at the new location in Munich as well as in Cologne/Bonn. In Cologne, Eurowings will offer more than 700,000 attractively-priced seats on long-haul routes for this summer and winter season. Another 500,000 can be added to this in Munich.
Thanks to the extensive codeshare agreement with Lufthansa, Eurowings customers in Munich can also transfer quickly and comfortably to destinations in the parent company’s network. Both airlines fly from Terminal 2.
