Just to let everyone know, LufthansaFlyer has found a new home with www.First2Board.com. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Randy and the rest of the fantastic Boarding Area family for the support and help in making LufthansaFlyer a great success. I’m super excited about the new opportunity!

You can continue to find my site at www.LufthansaFlyer.com and you can continue to follow me twitter @lufthansaflyer.

I hope to see you there!

This year, Lufthansa Cargo will be responsible for thousands of smiling faces when it brings 1000 tons of Roses to destinations throughout Europe.

Over the next few days leading up to Valentine’s on 14 February the roses will begin arriving to Frankfurt from Kenya, Ecuador and Colombia. Upon arrival in Germany the flowers will be dispatched to florists throughout Europe. The demand for the Roses is so great that Lufthansa Cargo added additional flights to accommodate the demand.

If your Valentine happens to be in Europe and Roses are on your to-do list, there’s a very good chance that the flowers you give her were aboard a Lufthansa Cargo aircraft this week.

Granted that we’re barely into 2013, but I’ve already set sights on one of our major trips for 2014. If you recall reading about my resolutions for 2013, I committed to expanding to new travel horizons. One of them was to touch foot in Africa. After thinking of reasons to visit Africa, my wife and I decided that a Safari would be the absolute perfect way for us to be introduced to the continent.

With days and weeks of research behind us, we’ve decided to visit the Ulusaba Game Reserve located in the Sabi Sands Reserve of South Africa in early 2014. The Ulusaba Reserve is owned by Sir Richard Branson and part of the Virgin Limited Edition Group of properties.

We’ll spend 6 days at the reserve and take advantage of their “Photographic Safari” program that caters to photographers. The package provides visitors with one on one workshops with accomplished wildlife photographers and specially trained game trackers to maximize the photographer’s experience. What I love about the package is that it limits vehicle occupancy to only 4 people which allows each photographer to have 2 rigs mounted on the vehicle. This allows for greater flexibility and eliminates the risk of damaging equipment when changing lenses, etc. Between my wife and I, I’ll be able to have 4 cameras mounted, each with a different lens which will cover most photo opportunities.

Each day, we’ll go on 2 extended game “drives” and 1 game “walk” which should provide plenty of opportunities to capture the stunning beauty of the African bush. When it comes time to book our tickets, we’ll be flying into Johannesburg on Lufthansa via Chicago and Frankfurt (my wife will finally have her first A380 experience!) and then transfer to a private charter flight to the Ulusaba Airstrip.

I’m excited about this trip since it will have many “firsts” for us. Hopefully these firsts will include several close encounters with some impressive wildlife. I’ve always wanted to know where I rank on the food chain.

And oh by the way, in the spirit of my Lufthansa Rubber Duck collection, Ulusaba did well by us when a few of these showed up in our mailbox soon after contacting them and beginning our booking process:

For those of you using Lufthansa’s “Blue Legends” App, I’ve updated the United and US Airways codeshare flight numbers that are valid for the month of February. Please note that Lufthansa does not have a codeshare flight number for every United or US Airways operated flight, but they do cover a large majority. If you are using older versions of Lufthansa codeshare flight numbers, please discard them. Lufthansa updates them on a monthly basis and previous codeshare flight numbers may be invalid.

For those of you not familiar with “Blue Legends”, it is a Lufthansa app that allows you to “Check In” with your various Lufthansa based activity; including flights, airport and lounge visits. The App lets you compete with other Lufthansa travelers in becoming “Mayors” of flights and receiving other “Badges” based on your accomplishments within Blue Legends. To learn more about “Blue Legends”, please click here.

PLEASE USE THIS LINK FOR LUFTHANSA’S UNITED AIRLINES CODE SHARE FLIGHT NUMBERS

PLEASE USE THIS LINK FOR LUFTHANSA’S US AIRWAYS CODE SHARE FLIGHT NUMBERS

AEGEAN:

ALEXANDROUPOLIS-ST.PETERSBURG effective May 31 will BEGIN 1x/week service.

AIR CANADA:

CALGARY-PORTLAND effective June 24 increase from 1x/day to 2x/day.
HALIFAX-BOSTON effective May 1 is reduced from 19x/week to 14x/week.
MONTREAL-BOSTON effective May 1 is reduced from 6x/day to 5x/day.
MONTREAL-DENVER effective May 1 is reduced from 1x/day to 6x/WEEK.
MONTREAL-FT. LAUDERDALE effective June 17 will increase from 11x/week to 12x/week.
MONTREAL-FT. LAUDERDALE effective June 25 will increase from 12x/week to 14x/week.
MONTREAL-ORLANDO effective May 1 will be reduced from 9x/week to 1x/DAY.
MONTREAL-SAN FRANCISCO effective June 28 will increase from 7x/week to 12x/week.
MONTREAL-WASHINGTON(DCA) effective May 1 will be reduced from 3x/day to 2x/day.
OTTAWA-BOSTON effective May 1 will increase from 12x/week to 13x/week.
TORONTO-BALTIMORE effective May 1 will be reduced from 5x/day to 4x/day.
TORONTO-CHICAGO effective May 1 will increase from 6x/day to 7x/day.
TORONTO-GRAND RAPIDS effective May 1 will increase from 12x/week to 14x/week.
TORONTO-HARTFORD effective May 1 will increase from 12x/week to 14x/week.
TORONTO-NASHVILLE effective May 1 will increase from 12x/week to 13x/week.
TORONTO-NEW YORK(LGA) effective May 1 will increase from 13x/week to 14x/week.
TORONTO-PHILADELPHIA effective May 1 will increase from 26x/week to 27x/week.
TORONTO-PORTLAND(PDX) effective May 1 is CANCELLED.
TORONTO-RICHMOND effective May 1 will increase from 12x/week to 14x/week.
TORONTO-SAN FRANCISCO effective between May 1 and June 16 will be reduced from 5x/day to 4x/day
TORONTO-SEATTLE effective between May 1 and 16 will be reduced from 2x/day to 1x/day.
TORONTO-WASHINGTON(DCA) effective May 1 will increase from 27x/week to 28x/week.
VANCOUVER-SAN FRANCISCO effective between May 1 and May 31 will be reduced from 4x/day to 3x/day.

ANA:

These adjustments are primarily due to the grounding of the 787 fleet:

TOKYO(NRT)-SAN JOSE effective between February 14 and March 30 is CANCELLED.
TOKYO(NRT)-SEATTLE is CANCELLED ONLY ON MARCH 4.
NAGOYA-SEOUL(ICN) effective between February 14-20 and March 4-21 is CANCELLED.
OSAKA KANSAI-QINGDAO is CANCELLED ONLY ON MARCH 7.
OSAKA KANSAI-SEOUL(ICN) effective between February 14-20 and March 4-21 is CANCELLED.
TOKYO(HND)-SEOUL GIMPO is CANCELLED on February 15, 19-21, 26-27, March 1-2, 13, 15 and 23.
TOKYO(NRT)-SEOUL(ICN) effective February 10 is CANCELLED (accelerated from March 31).

COPA:

PANAMA CITY-PORT OF SPAIN effective July 10 will increase from 1x/day to 12x/WEEK.

TURKISH:

ISTANBUL(IST)-MARSEILLE effective June 4 will BEGIN 4x/week service.
ISTANBUL(SAW)-BAKU effective May 3 will BEGIN 4x/week service.
ISTANBUL(SAW)-BAKU effective June 2 will increase from 4x/week to 1x/DAY.
ISTANBUL(SAW)-KUWAIT effective March 31 will BEGIN 5x/week service.
ISTANBUL(SAW)-KUWAIT effective June 4 will increase from 5x/week to 1x/DAY.
ISTANBUL(SAW)-TBILISI effective May 3 will BEGIN 4x/week service.
ISTANBUL(SAW)-TBILISI effective June 2 will increase from 4x/week to 1x/DAY.

UNITED:

GUAM-NIIGATA effective between April 10 and July 1 is CANCELLED. 2x/week service resumes July 2.

PREVIOUS STAR ALLIANCE ROUTE ANNOUNCEMENTS

Courtesy: www.AirlineRoute.net

Earlier this week Lufthansa released updates to its mobile site as well as enhacements to their Smartphone App. I installed it a couple of days ago on my iPhone and iPad and took it through it’s paces. So far, I like the changes and the intuitiveness that the upgrades provide.

Some of the key improvements include “push notifications” that will alert you to changes in flight status, gate information, etc. You can also receive your boarding passes directly into the App, which makes it act a bit like “PASSBOOK”.

In addition, the Apps received a facelift that improves the “logic” of navigating the App. Using the iPhone or iPad you can navigate/scroll you screen in four directions (up, down, left, right) with each new window bring additional functionality. The dedicated windows include one for fare offers, one for general Lufthansa news and information and one that is customizable based on your upcoming Lufthansa travel.

One of my favorite features is the Flight Status option that lets you pick from any Lufthansa flights coming up in the next 3 days and receive status messaging in real time. The Flight Status feature also lets you search for any Lufthansa flight based on airport or route; a cool little feature for us “avgeeks”!

To download this app, visit your respect App Store or use these links:

APPLE iPad / iPhone Users

ANDROID (GOOGLE) Smartphone Users

After you’ve downloaded and tried the App for yourself, please forward to me any feedback/ideas/issues that you have and I’ll share it with those behind the development of the App.

Since the summer of 2011, Lufthansa Technik (Lufthansa’s engineering division) has been busy developing a potential enhancement to fuselage coatings that can yield fuel savings of at least 1% over current paint technologies in place. This translates into millions of Euro in fuel cost savings.

In collaboration with Airbus and the Fraunhofer Institute For Manufacturing Technology And Applied Materials Research (IFAM), Lufthansa has developed a potential aircraft coating that borrows from the “technology” found on the skin of sharks. Yes, the “JAWS” type.

As part of the first phase of research, they developed a way to manufacture a coating that resembles the structure of shark skin. Measured in micrometers, this new coating technology simulates the surface structure of shark skin in that it contains near-microscopic grooves that form riblets that in turn create a very efficient aerodynamic surface. In this preliminary research, it was found that this texture actually extends turbulence away from the surface and ultimately reduces resistance. This texture is then “imprinted” into the actual paint that is applied to the aircraft.

Moving to the second phase of this project, Lufthansa will outfit two of her Airbus A340′s with patches of this new coating technology on various parts of the fuselage and wings. Each patch will measure 10cm square and will be monitored through the summer of 2013. It is hoped that during this testing the new coating will exceed abrasion and wear tolerances found in current paint technologies. If the tests are successful, the next phase will include testing larger patches on a fuselage as well as developing a specialized wide scale application process that can be used when painting an aircraft.

OTHER RECENT LUFTHANSA TECHNIK INITIATIVES:

Cyclean Engine Washing System

Lufthansa’s 747 completes flight with Bio-Fuel blend.

Late last week, AUSTRIAN released a summary press release that highlighted their commitment and focus on their Eastern European operations as well as their expansion into North America.

Following are the key points from a recent AUSTRIAN communiqué concerning Eastern Europe:

2013 will feature 130 destinations in 55 countries.

43 destinations will be within Eastern Europe (nearly a 1/3rd of all Austrian destinations).

St. Petersburg, Russia will see 7 extra flights per week.

Chisinau, Molodova will see 4 extra flights per week.

Kosice, Slovakia will see 2 extra Austrian flights per day (A BIG BIG BIG Personal Thanks for this one!!)

Each of the following destinations will see 1 extra flight per week: Amman(Jordan), Yerevan(Armenia), Sibiu(Romania), Skopje(Macedonia).

As far as North American activity is concerned, Austrian is obviously excited about it’s newest USA gateway with the beginning of service between Vienna and Chicago in late spring which will showcase their new cabin interior aboard their Boeing 767. With the addition of Chicago, Austrian will have 26 non-stop flights each week to it’s North American destinations (New York, Toronto, Washington DC and Chicago). To accomodate this timetable, Austrian has announced a code-share arrangement with United that will help Austrian passengers book their travel to dozens of cities throughout the USA.

Lastly, AUSTRIAN has announced new “Holiday” destinations that will be operated on a seasonal basis. Palma will see service 3 times a week, Palermo and Chios will see new once weekly service introduced throughout the spring. Additionally, Austrian has added an additional flight to Cairo each week. As part of there timetable adjustment, AUSTRIAN has reduced their service to Barcelona from 3 times a day to 2 times a day and has also reduced service to London from 4 times a day to 3 times day.

Considering the challenges that faced Austrian in 2011 and 2012, it is clear that the steps taken to help improve AUSTRIAN are now ready to yield fantastic dividends to her passengers!

Route announcements are coming in droves as airlines put their finishing touches on their Summer 2013 timetables. Today’s update again has several updates from a variety of Star Alliance member carriers:

AEGEAN:

ATHENS-GENEVA effective April 24 will BEGIN 3x/week service.
ATHENS-KIEV ZHULYANY effective April 3 will BEGIN 2x/week service.

AUSTRIAN:

VIENNA-ST. PETERSBURG effective March 31 will increase from 1x/day to 2x/day.

BRUSSELS:

BRUSSELS-WASHINGTON(IAD) effective June 18 will BEGIN 5x/week service (more details)

EGYPTAIR:

CAIRO-ATHENS effective June 1 will increase from 10x/week to 14x/week.

LUFTHANSA:

FRANKFURT-KAZAN-PERM effective April 1 is CANCELLED.

THAI (SMILE):

BANGKOK-AHMEDABAD effective March 31 will BEGIN 2x/week service.
BANGKOK-LAHORE effective June 1 will increase from 5x/week to 1x/DAY.
BANGKOK-SYDNEY effective between April 7 and May 30 will be reduced from 12x/week to 11x/week.
BANGKOK-TAIPEI effective March 31 will be reduced from 18x/week to 14x/week.
PHUKET-DELHI effective March 31 will BEGIN 2/xweek service.
PHUKET-KUALA LUMPUR effective March 31 will BEGIN 4x/week serivce.
PHUKET-MUMBAI effective March 31 will BEGIN 2x/week service.

TURKISH:

ISTANBUL(IST)-AQABA effective April 3 wilL BEGIN 3x/week service.

UNITED:

GUAM-TOKYO(NRT) effective between July 14 and September 29 will increase from 3x/day to 4x/day.

US AIRWAYS:

PHOENIX-CALGARY effective June 30 will be reduced from 2x/day to 1x/day.
CHARLOTTE-SAO PAULO beginning of new 1x/day service is delayed until June 8 (was to start May 5).

PREVIOUS STAR ALLIANCE ROUTE ANNOUNCEMENTS

Courtesy: www.AirlineRoute.net

Lufthansa has started a brief Business Class Fare sale that ends on February 4. As with past Business Class fare sales, savings amount to about 40-50% when compared to a “regularly” priced Business Class ticket.

From New York to most destinations in Europe, the fares range from $2800 to $3000. From Chicago, fares range from $3200 to $3400 and from San Francisco, $3700 to $3900. These fares are a bit higher than usual for a Business Class sale, but with cost of fuel and inflation in general seem to be appropriate.

Terms and Conditions of the offer:

Tickets must be purchased by February 4, 2013
You must depart between March 24 and April 5, 2013
You must return between March 31 and April 10.
Advance Purchase: 28 days.
Flights can be operated by Air Canada, Swiss, Lufthansa, Austrian or United.
Saturday night stay is required.

If you are going to book a ticket, please be mindful of the carrier who will operate the flight. I suggest you make sure that Lufthansa, Swiss or Austrian are going to be your carriers!

AND with a little of planning, you could find yourself aboard Lufthansa’s 747-8i or certain Airbus A330 that have the new Business Class interior installed!!

For more information on the fare sale, and additional fares between city pairs, please visit the Fare Sale Webpage.

BRUSSELS AIRLINES announced today it will begin service between BRUSSELS and WASHINGTON DC beginning JUNE 18.

This new route will be flown 5 times a week and gives passengers another fantastic way to get to Europe. In addition, this provides Star Alliance passengers a rare (and easy!)new way to reach AFRICA from the USA thanks to BRUSSELS’ fantastic route network in Africa.

SN515 will depart Brussels at 5:30p and arrive in Washington DC at 8:15p
SN516 will depart Washington DC at 10:35p and arrive in Brussels at 12:10p

The flights will operate Wednesday through Sunday.

Currently BRUSSELS’ only US gateway is New York so this is indeed great news for USA based passengers and I LOVE the late departure from Brussels!!