As most readers have probably realized by now, Lufthansa is seriously considering the prospects of launching a new Low Cost Carrier (LCC) as soon as next year as they seek to streamline operations and improve their competitiveness against other European LCC’s such as RyanAir and easyjet.

As part of recent developments coming from Lufthansa a feasibility study has begun to determine whether or not an LCC division makes sense. If it does, expect to see the likes of germanwings and Eurowings to be absorbed into the new LCC. Media outlets have been reporting that the name of the new carrier will be “Direct 4 You”. A bit awkward if you ask me since it does not imply any thought of air travel. Sounds a bit more like direct marketing.

There may be some relief to those of you who agree with me that “Direct 4 You” would not look good as part of an airline’s livery.
After speaking with Lufthansa today and sharing my “uneasiness” about the brand name, I was put at ease. At present, the “Direct 4 You” labeling is simply a conjugation of 2 Lufthansa organizations. “Direct Services” is the internal name given to Lufthansa’s intra-european, direct feed operations and “4 You” is simply a play on words taken from germanwings’ IATA designator which is 4U (Lufthansa is LH in case you need context!).

Since the project is looking at absorbing and reinventing germanwings into a new direct flight LCC operation within Lufthansa’s family of carriers, it makes perfect sense for the code name of the LCC project to be “Direct 4 You”. I know I’ll sleep better tonight!

If you were Mr. or Mrs. or Ms. Lufthansa Decision-maker, what would you name the new LCC division??

Not much to write about, but this video from Reuters speaks volumes about planes landing in the wind…..This video was taken on April 26 and I imagine “barf bags” were at a premium….

Click Here To See The Reuters Video

And if that isn’t enough, here’s a United 747 with it’s hands full approaching Narita in March. The crew needed to abort landing and go around due to the high winds. Watch the wing flex as the crew applies power as they prepare to go around.

So far things are going as expected with the matches and no upsets have taken place among the top seeds in each division. The matches currently underway HERE end tonight at 10p eastern. This posting has the next set of matches that will go from today until 10p tommorow. I’m trying to get the first round done before I head for Istanbul on Friday, so there may be a little bit of over lap between matches. This set of matches pits the #3 seeds against the #14′s.

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The Updated Master Bracket: AIRPORT WORLD CUP – UPDATE ONE.

Several announcements over the past five days:

AEGEAN:

Athens-Tbilisi previously planned 2x/week service has been postponed from May 24 to June 11.

AIR CHINA (Tibet Airlines):

Lhasa-Bangda effective May 3 will begin 2x/week service.
Beijing–Dusseldorf effective April 25 has been reduced from 4x/week to 3x/week.

ANA:

Tokyo(NRT)-Seattle effective July 25 will begin 1x/day service.

LUFTHANSA:

Frankfurt-Washington DC beginning June 1 will be operated by the new Boeing 747-8i everyday except TUESDAYS.
Munich-Rotterdam effective October 1 will begin 2x/day service.

THAI AIRWAYS:

Bangkok-Sapporo previously announced 4x/week service beginning October 28 is CHANGED TO 3x/WEEK.
Bangkok–Brisbane effective from Dec 3 to Feb 3,2013 will increase from 5x/week to 1x/DAY.
Bangkok-Paris(CDG) effective February 16, 2013 will be reduced from 1x/week to 1x/day.

TURKISH:

Istanbul-New York(JFK) effective October 28 will increase from 11x/week to 14x/week.
Istanbul–Dhaka effective October 28 will increase from 4x/week to 5x/week.
Istanbul-Kabul effective April 22 has increased to 1x/day from 5x/WEEK.
Istanbul-Toronto effective December 31 will increase from 4x/week to 5x/week.

Previous Star Alliance Updates: April 22 April 17 April 13

Source: www.Airlineroute.net

The first few matches in Round 1 have completed and there were no surprises as the #1 seeded Airports handily beat each of their #16 seeded opponents:

Seoul (ICN) 25 – Lisbon Intl (LIS) 5
Hong Kong (HKG) 28 – Doha (DOH) 3
Singapore (SIN) 31 – Delhi Int’l (DEL) 6
Amsterdam (AMS) 31 – Haikou Meilan Int’l (HAK) 4

HERE ARE THE NEXT MATCHES FOR ROUND 1:

The #2 Seeds versus the #15 Seeds: Is there an upset in any of these matches??

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If any match ends in a tie, a random number generator will be use to determine the winner.

UPDATED BRACKET: AIRPORT WORLD CUP – UPDATE ONE

Received an email today from United allowing me to enroll into the TSA’s prescreening program. Initially the program will roll out at Chicago’s O’hare and New York’s Newark (Well New Jersey actually, but I won’t give Jersey the the benefit of the doubt!).

According to the program, you will no longer have to remove Shoes, Belts or Jackets or your Liquids (the 3-1-1 bag). Additionally, your laptop can stay in your carry-on as well!

It looks like a targeted email. When I clicked on the link it had my Trusted Traveller Program ID # already prefilled. Several months ago Continental was letting you sign up to be alerted when the Trusted Traveler Program came to the airline. I suspect anyone that signed up at that point was targeted for this email!

FINALLY!

The EMAIL:

Being reported out of Germany is news that Lufthansa is making plans to launch a new Low Cost Carrier (LCC) in Europe.

Plans are to name the carrier “Direct 4 You” and serve as direct competition to other LCC’s in Europe (i.e. Ryanair). The plan for “Direct 4 You” is for the airline to begin operations in 2013. At the same time, current Lufthansa subsidiary “Germanwings” will most likely be disbanded.

The plan would be for Direct 4 You to take over most of Lufthansa’s intra-European routes as part of their cost cutting measures implemented earlier this year.

Also being considered is the consolidation of Eurowings into the Direct 4 You fleet sometime in 2015.

I’m sure more details will be coming shortly…

The contest is finally open! Several weeks ago I posted about Lufthansa’s contest that would give away 2 seats to a lucky winner on the 747-8i. A few days later the contest disappeared, but now is back!!

Earlier today, Lufthansa gave notice that the 747-8i will enter service on June 1 between Frankfurt and Washington DC. It will fly the route everyday except Tuesday based on their current plans

You can finally enter to win 2 tickets for a flight on the new 747 from Frankfurt. Other prizes included limited edition watches and other 747 “swag”.

The contest is open from now until June 1! You can find more details and the link to Enter the contest here.

Good Luck!

Lufthansa has launched a new contest that will award weekly winners a variety of different gifts to coincide the opening of Berlin’s new Brandenburg Airport(BER) on June 3 (And your’s truly will be there for the festivities!). The new airport is near completion and has been built on the site of Schönefeld airport, which will close once Brandenburg opens.

This week’s prizes include 9 sets of food and drink vouchers for use at the new airport. Each voucher has a €30 value. This week’s contest will run from 27 April to 3 May.

To enter, please visit the contest’s HOMEPAGE.

In a press release from Lufthansa, they have officially opened the aircraft for booking on its inaugural route between Frankfurt and Washington DC. The new aircraft will operate the route 6 days a week.

I just booked my Ticket! Sittin’ In The Bubble!

The press release from Lufthansa:

East Meadow, NY, April 27, 2012 – Starting today, passengers can now book flights on Lufthansa’s first Boeing 747-8 aircraft, which has just been delivered in Seattle. Beginning June 1, Lufthansa will operate six flights per week with the “Queen of the Skies” on the Frankfurt-Washington route. Over the next few months, as four more new Jumbo jets join the fleet, the number of destinations served by the aircraft will gradually increase. By late summer, 747-8 flights will be offered to Chicago, Los Angeles Delhi and Bangalore.

Once the 747-8 enters scheduled service, passengers will also have the opportunity to enjoy Lufthansa’s revamped Business Class. The new Business Class seat provides exceptional comfort, whether in an upright or reclined position or as a lie-flat bed, plus intuitive adjustments, additional storage space and an enhanced in-flight entertainment system. At the press of a button, the seat converts into a comfortable bed with a horizontal sleeping surface measuring 6.6 feet in length.

The 747-8 Intercontinental will bring double-digit improvements in fuel efficiency and CO2 emissions per passenger over its predecessor, the 747-400. It is also much quieter, and generates a 30 percent smaller noise footprint. A wealth of information about the “Queen of the Skies” is available at www.lufthansa.com/747-8. The website also features a contest with the chance to win two tickets on the Boeing 747-8.

Welcome to the 2012 AIRPORT WORLD CUP. Over the coming days and weeks you’ll be able to cast your votes for several matches that will pit airport against airport until we narrow it down to the overall 2012 AIRPORT WORLD CUP CHAMPION. The field consists of 64 airports ranked by passenger popularity based on the Skytrax Airport Awards. For the first round, there are 32 matches so I will list 4 matches per day in order to complete the 1st round within about a week’s time. Each match will last for 36 hours from time of posting.

Again, a special thanks to MilesQuest for letting me adapt his Airline World Cup Competition concept that saw Cathay Pacific crowned as Champion.

Here is the 2012 AIRPORT WORLD CUP MASTER BRACKET for your reference.

So with out further ado, here is the first set of matches:

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Should any match result in a tie, a random number generator will be used to decide the winner.