Lufhansa's A380 made first visits of this aircraft type to several European airports on Saturday 19th of March.
A380 made its first landings in Warsaw’s Frederic Chopin International Airport, Istanbul Ataturk Airport, and Luqa International Airport in Malta. In the last leg of the tour the aircraft returned to Frankfurt.
Lufthansa has ordered 15 A380s, holding an option for another five, and deliveries are expected to be completed by 2015. It is set to become the largest operator of the airliner in Europe.
The German airline received its first A380 on May 19, 2010. Seating 526 passengers in Lufthansa’s three-class configuration, the A380 can carry about 60 per cent more passengers than the Boeing 747-400 now in service.
Its size is impressive, standing just over 24 meters high and 72.7 meters long with a wingspan of just under 80 meters.
This summer, passengers will be able to fly with the A380, the most modern aircraft in the Lufthansa fleet, to five destinations: Johannesburg, New York (J. F. Kennedy), Beijing and San Francisco (from 10 May) and Tokyo (Narita). A sixth destination, which has yet to be announced, will be included in the A380 schedule by the middle of the year.
Lufthansa Turkey General Manager Gregor Wende said at the meeting organized for the arrival of Lufthansa’s fifth A380, “Turkey is one of the important destinations of Lufthansa’s network. Today, coming to here with our new A380 plane, we are showing our appreciation to Turkey as they host us here since 1956”, said Mr. Wende.
Lufthansa strengthens its presence in Turkey
Lufthansa operates 73 weekly flights to Turkey. With non-stop flights to Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir and Bursa, Lufthansa presently serves four Turkish cities from its gateways in Frankfurt and Munich. As of April 2, 2011 Antalya will be added to the network.
Lufthansa steadily increased its presence in Turkey. In 2010, Lufthansa launched its new service from Munich to Bursa, connecting the Turkish city thrice a week to Germany, to Europe and the world. From its hubs in Frankfurt and Munich the German airline presently serves four destinations in Turkey, with non-stop flights to Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir and Bursa. All flights provide lean onward connections to Lufthansa’s German destinations, to well over 100 European cities and some 200 destinations worldwide.
Lufthansa underlines its commitment to Turkey in particular by introducing a seasonal summer service from Munich to Antalya as of April 2, 2011. The weekly service, to be operated by an Airbus A321 aircraft, will depart Antalya every Saturday at 6.05pm, reaching Munich in time for convenient connections to almost everywhere in Europe.
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