Lufthansa Launches 5 Major New Long-Haul Routes: See Full List Now

Published Oct 28, 2026, 8:00 AM EDT James lives and breathes route development. Educated in Air Transport Management at Loughborough University and Cranfield University, James has a PhD in Airline Strategy and Economics. James was Market Opportunity Analyst at London Luton Airport and Chief Analyst at anna.aero. He taught airline strategy and economics to undergraduate and postgraduate students for five years and has worked closely with multiple carriers on route and market intelligence projects. He is based near London, UK. On October 25, Northern Hemisphere airlines switched to winter schedules based on IATA slot seasons. On and around that date, hundreds of new and returning routes took off globally. They included Lufthansa's reintroduction of service from Frankfurt to Kuala Lumpur after a ten-year absence. In addition, the usually conservative Lufthansa recently announced that it'd fly to Columbus and Phoenix. They were revealed shortly after the Star Alliance member confirmed that it'd return to Tokyo Narita and Nagoya. However, the German giant will concede routes from Frankfurt and Munich to Seattle to the leisure unit Discover Airlines. Lufthansa From Frankfurt To Columbus On October 19, Lufthansa announced that it would launch service from Frankfurt Airport (FRA) to John Glenn Columbus International Airport (CMH). It is notable for three reasons. First, it'll be the first time that CMH has had long-haul scheduled passenger service. Second, it'll be the airport's sole widebody operation. Third, as Cincinnati's airport is in Kentucky, rather than Ohio, the Buckeye State will now have two airports with long-haul activity, with CMH joining Cleveland (Aer Lingus to Dublin). On May 5, 2027, Lufthansa will lift off for Ohio for the first time. It'll serve CMH three times weekly using the Allegris-equipped, 287-seat Boeing 787-9. Incentives and other risk-sharing agreements, such as revenue guarantees, are common in attracting and securing new airlines, although some simply pull out when support ends. Lufthansa will gain around $47 million in incentives, which has obviously played a major role in the overall appeal. Days FRA To CMH; Local Times CMH To FRA; Local Times Wednesdays, Fridays, Sundays LH406: 11:15 AM-2:00 PM LH407: 4:20 PM-6:15 AM+1 The existing traffic from CMH to Europe, the Middle East, parts of Africa, and South Asia is also pretty decent. In the 12 months to August 2026, booking data suggests that 930 round-trip passengers flew each day, with two-thirds of the traffic doing so from only 30 cities. Lufthansa will, of course, actively target this traffic and will provide one-stop service to many smaller places for the first time. The ten markets with the highest traffic were London, Rome, Paris, Nairobi, Dublin, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Athens, Lisbon, and Venice. Then There Is Munich To Phoenix Whether surprisingly or not, Lufthansa will take off from Munich Airport (MUC) for Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) on August 3, 2027. That'll be during the peak summer with extreme temperatures, with the departure time from Arizona at 5:50 PM being quite early, when it'll still be very hot. Despite this, the use of the 293-seat Airbus A350-900 will not encounter any payload restriction. Covering 5,060 nautical miles (9,371 km) each way, it'll be the carrier's new third-longest A350-900-operated service from MUC to the US, after San Diego and San Francisco. When all airlines are included, it'll be the new seventh-longest A350-900 operation between Europe and the US. Days MUC To PHX; Local Times PHX To MUC; Local Times Tuesdays, Fridays, Sundays LH482: 1:20 PM-4:00 PM LH483: 5:50 PM-1:25 PM+1 Lufthansa's arrival in PHX in 2027 will mark the first-ever service from MUC to Arizona. However, Germany has had flights to PHX on various occasions. Cirium Diio data shows that they were most recently available in 2024, when Condor last flew from FRA. Lufthansa itself operated from FRA between 2001 and 2004, while the now long-defunct LTU did so from Düsseldorf Airport between 1996 and 1998. Loading map… Drag to explore Between 2005 and 2017, British Airways was the only European carrier to serve PHX. Lufthansa's arrival next year means three European airlines will fly there for the first time since 2024, with BA and the German giant joined by Air France, whose debut was in 2024. Separately, American Airlines will continue to serve London Heathrow from its ex-US Airways hub. Lufthansa To Nagoya & Tokyo Narita The Star Alliance member will reintroduce flights from FRA to Tokyo Narita Airport on March 28, 2027. The route will run daily using the 787-9, and it'll be the first time the airline has deployed a Boeing twinjet to Japan. NRT last saw Lufthansa's passenger equipment in 2017, when the carrier consolidated at Tokyo Haneda Airport (HND). Due to a lack of slots at HND, which makes increasing frequencies very challenging, it is bringing back the NRT link. Then there's Nagoya. On March 29, 2027, Lufthansa will launch three weekly flights from FRA to Chubu Centrair International Airport (NGO) using the 787-9. The carrier last flew there in 2020 as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. For many years, only the A340-300 and A340-600 were used. Lufthansa will be one of two European carriers at the airport, alongside Finnair.