The popular German carrier Lufthansa is adding two more destinations to its North American map flying from its hub in Frankfurt (FRA): Minneapolis (MSP) and Raleigh (RDU).
Starting next summer, there will be two airlines flying between Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) and Frankfurt, Germany (FRA). Condor Airlines has been flying the route for years, but now Lufthansa is adding year-round service between the two hubs.
Lufthansa will begin flying between MSP and FRA starting June 4, 2024, MSP Airport announced on Tuesday. The route will be flown on a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner five days a week on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday.
- Flights from Minneapolis (MSP) to Frankfurt (FRA) depart at 3:15 p.m. and arrive at 6:40 a.m.
- Flights from Frankfurt (FRA) to Minneapolis (MSP) depart at 11:10 a.m. and arrive in Minneapolis at 1:15 p.m.
The new Raleigh route will also fly five days a week starting on June 6, 2024, according to a news release from RDU Airport. The airline will fly an Airbus A330-300 aircraft between Raleigh and Frankfurt.
Business class, premium economy, and economy seats will be available on each of these routes. Fares for the MSP-FRA will go on sale Wednesday, Sept. 13. Sale dates for the new Raleigh route have not been announced as of publication.
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It's the first time Lufthansa will service MSP and RDU, giving Upper Midwesterners and Triangle-area travelers a new great opportunity to fly to Germany and beyond to the rest of Europe with easy connections. Lufthansa, a partner of U.S.-based United Airlines, is one of the largest airlines in the world and boasts a massive network of flights across the globe.
Interestingly, Condor and Lufthansa partner on some routes within Germany and you can book Lufthansa connections through Condor's website. Lufthansa Group used to the parent company of Condor, but is no longer.
Flyover country no more! The new route announcement comes amidst a flurry of other new and resuming European routes from Minneapolis starting next summer. Just a few weeks ago, both Delta and Aer Lingus announced they would be resuming service to Dublin (DUB) from Minneapolis.
Additionally, after a year off in 2023, Air France will resume its Minneapolis (MSP) route in summer 2024, too. After Lufthansa begins service, it will become MSP Airport's 18th airline. There was no indication if Lufthansa will use Terminal 1 like its partners United and Air Canada, or if the airline will operate from Terminal 2 like other foreign carriers Icelandair and Condor.
“It's exciting to see this new service that will support the increased year-round demand for air travel from Minnesota and the upper Midwest to Europe and other international destinations,” Brian Ryks, CEO of the Metropolitan Airports Commission that oversees MSP, said in a statement.
According to Lufthansa Group, routes to India and East Africa are seeing increased demand from the Twin Cities region. The Twin Cities has the fourth-highest demand to East Africa in the entire country, the MSP Airport release says.
In Raleigh, travelers are also seeing a European boon for summer 2024 with the addition of this Lufthansa nonstop flight and Air France's new service to Paris (CDG). Lufthansa will become the 16th airline at RDU and Germany will be the airport's eighth international destination overall.
And that's not all the new route news out of Lufthansa. The airline is also adding direct flights between Seattle (SEA) and Munich (MUC) on an Airbus A350-900 in addition to its existing Frankfurt (FRA) route, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport announced on Tuesday. That route will start on May 30, 2024, and be flown daily during the summer months and just three times a week in the winter. It's unclear when that route will go on sale.
Bottom Line
Lufthansa will begin its first-ever service between Minneapolis (MSP) and Raleigh, North Carolina (RDU) starting in June 2024, giving travelers in those regions yet another new way to fly to Germany and connect onward to Europe, India, and Africa.
This is huge news for Minneapolis and North Carolina-based travelers looking to fly to Germany and beyond in 2024 as one of the world's premier airlines has pegged these markets as desirable for year-round travel.
Featured image courtesy of Lufthansa.Â
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