Lufthansa Resumes JFK-Frankfurt Flights, But Who is Flying?

Lufthansa Airlines has announced the return of five weekly flights from JFK to Frankfurt, ramping up to daily flights for the remainder of the summer schedule.

Initially, flights out of New York’s JFK will operate five times a week on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, from July 27 through Aug. 30, increasing to once daily from Aug. 31 through Oct. 24. The resumed route will operate aboard an Airbus A330-300 with a three-class configuration of business, premium economy and economy classes. 

“Lufthansa is continuing to meet the demand of its loyal customers throughout the United States and is now connecting the metropolitan New York region to its growing network of international destinations that are slowly easing travel restrictions,” the airline said in a statement.

The carrier says that “newly introduced fast PCR Corona tests at Frankfurt Airport allow passengers able to enter Germany under EU criteria avoid a two-week quarantine.” However, the airline warns that “customers must acquaint themselves with the latest European Union entry criteria” which includes the fact that US citizens are not still not being allowed into the EU, even with coronavirus testing at the airport.

So who is flying on these ramped up routes? Henry Harteveldt, travel analyst and principal at Atmosphere Research Group told Business Traveler, “Lufthansa’s flights likely include a mix of diplomats, Americans traveling on essential business, Germans and other foreign nationals returning to their home countries, and, believe it or not, a handful of American leisure travelers heading to the few countries abroad where American visitors are still welcome (Croatia is one). I suspect Lufthansa, like other passenger airlines, is also carrying a lot of cargo in the bellies of its aircraft.”