Lufthansa Launches New 13-Hour Nonstop Route In 1 Month: See Flights Now

Published Sep 10, 2026, 7:00 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. Time goes quickly. On October 25, Northern Hemisphere airlines will switch to winter schedules based on IATA slot seasons. Around then, hundreds of new and returning routes will take off. They include with Lufthansa, which will reintroduce a long link to Asia after a ten-year absence. Asia is an important continent for the German giant. When flights from Lufthansa's Frankfurt Airport (FRA) and Munich Airport (MUC) hubs are considered, OAG data shows that Asia will account for 35% of the airline's long-haul activity in the upcoming winter. However, its presence in Southeast Asia (to which the returning route will go) is relatively small (5%). Lufthansa Will Return To Kuala Lumpur In October On October 25, Lufthansa will lift off from FRA to Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL). It'll serve the long route five times a week on a year-round basis using the 287-seat Boeing 787-9. One of two Dreamliner variants for the Star Alliance member, the 287-seater is equipped with Allegris cabins and is the more premium version. It has 28 seats in business (1-2-1), 28 in premium economy (2-3-2; 39" pitch), and 231 in regular economy (3-3-3; 31"). On a great circle basis, FRA-KUL will cover 5,400 nautical miles (8,690 km) each way. That does not take account of detours because of closed airspace, wind speeds and directions, the cost of flying over specific countries, and so on. As such, the real-world distance will be longer. Nonetheless, FRA-KUL will become Lufthansa's new longest service on the 787-9 even based on the great circle distance. Lufthansa previously had passenger flights from FRA to Malaysia for years until 2016. For some of the time, they were tagged with Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK). Unsurprisingly, Thailand's busiest airport continues to see Lufthansa, albeit only from MUC, with up to two daily departures a week during the winter on the Airbus A380. Days FRA To KUL; Local Times Days KUL To FRA; Local Times Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays LH704: 9:30 PM-4:40 PM+1 (12 hours and 10 minutes) Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, Sundays LH705: 11:55 PM-6:00 AM+1 (13 hours and 5 minutes) Loading map… Drag to explore Does Lufthansa's Return After Ten Years Make Sense? Credit: Flickr Given Lufthansa's general focus on long-haul premium markets, the return to KUL (which is more about visiting friends and relatives and leisure travel) was somewhat surprising. Having five weekly flights will also mean that nearly two 787-9s will have to be dedicated to the long route. That is a lot of 'real estate'. The local FRA-KUL demand is not large. In the 12 months to June 2026, booking data via OAG Traffic Analyzer shows 54,000 round-trip passengers, although that volume will increase because of the upcoming nonstop flights. While only around 148 passengers flew daily, traffic grew by 10% year-over-year, which is decent. FRA was the third-largest unserved European market to/from KUL, after Zurich (72,000) and Milan (60,000). As Malaysia Airlines also no longer flies to FRA (it did so until 2015), everyone had to fly indirectly. Unsurprisingly, most flew indirectly with Etihad Airways, Singapore Airlines, Emirates, Qatar Airways, Turkish Airlines, and Thai Airways. Due to having less premium traffic, FRA-KUL's average base fare (for all airlines, cabins, and passengers) was $502 one-way (excluding taxes and a fuel surcharge). This was about the average for MUC-BKK, which is also more leisure-driven. However, KUL's result was 28% more than for FRA-BKK, which Lufthansa no longer serves, which might be just as well. European Connectivity Will Be Key Lufthansa's schedule to and from KUL (leaving FRA at 9:30 PM and arriving back at 6:00 AM two days later) means that the route is massively geared for connectivity across Europe. The German giant will focus on higher-yielding segments from larger European cities and Star Alliance hubs which currently do not have nonstop flights to Malaysia. Important targets will include Zurich (72,000 passengers), Milan (60,000), Madrid (49,000), Barcelona (47,000), Manchester (46,000), Rome (42,000), Vienna (35,000), Geneva (34,000), Brussels (33,000), Copenhagen (28,000), and Warsaw (19,000). The lack of nonstop service to Europe means that only about 23% of passengers flew nonstop between the continent and KUL. Most connected to another flight in Istanbul and the Gulf hubs. Despite not being like-for-like comparisons, 52% of passengers flew nonstop to the much higher-yielding Singapore.