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

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.

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.

Earlier this month Lufthansa released their updated “schedule” for excess baggage / overweight baggage fees. Overall there were some substantial increases for bags that are much larger or much heavier than the standard weight and size allowed by Lufthansa. To be compliant as a free checked bag, the piece must weigh less than 23kg (50.7 lbs.) and measure less than 158cm (62 inches) when length, height and depth of a bag are added together. Beyond those dimensions, a fee schedule will apply.

The fees increase dramatically when your bag approaches the 33kg (72 lbs) weight, with fees starting at $300 and going to $600 for a bag that is heavier AND oversized (greater than the 158cm/62in maximum). So PLEASE be mindful when packing your bags for your upcoming travel this year! Some of the fees have increased more than 50% over the past year.

For your convenience, here is the 2013 Excess Baggage Charges Chart that Lufthansa released on January 15, 2013:

Lufthansa has updated their website to reflect flights that have been cancelled for January 27. As of now, there are 33 flights that are cancelled. All of them are either FROM or TO Frankfurt.

The flights that are affected are either flights within Germany or within Europe. Long Haul/International operations are not affected.

Please use this link to see the complete list of flight cancellations, including flight numbers and cities.

If you are affected by these cancellations, Lufthansa will help reaccomodate you to another flight or assist with alternatives. Look under “My Bookings” on your Lufthansa profile to see what options are available for you.

CLICK HERE or more information including contact numbers for Lufthansa Reservation Centers and additional information.

Lufthansa has announced a long list of canceled flights for Monday, 21 January for flights operating primarily into Frankfurt and Munich. Most of Europe is gripped in a winter storm that is affecting travel throughout the continent.

Lufthansa has provided a list of flights that have thus far been canceled. You can find this list here.

At this point there are no cancelled long haul flights, it appears that most of the cancellations are for flights within Germany and to destinations in Europe.

In addition, a strike at Hamburg’s airport is not helping matters at this point and is adding to the list of flight cancellations.

One of Lufthansa’s most important corporate objectives is their commitment to minimize their impact on the environment. Perhaps more concerned about the environment than any other airline.

To that end, Lufthansa continuously looks at ways to improve themselves in a manner that helps passengers, the environment and ultimately their bottom line. With technological achievements (such as Cyclean) and simple discipline, Lufthansa has been able to accomplish some fairly impressive objectives when it comes to minimize the airline’s impact on the enviroment.

Recently, Lufthansa shared a few statistics that I thought were worth sharing:

With Boeing’s 747-8 and Airbus’ A380 Lufthansa burns less than 4 liters per passenger, per 100 kilometers. When asked in a survey, most people thought that it took 10 times as much fuel to transport one passenger 100 kilometers. This kind of fuel efficiency rivals the most economical hybrid automobiles. However, when was the last time your Prius let you cross the Atlantic……

Since 1991, Lufthansa has been able to increase flight operations by 42.6% without increasing it’s carbon footprint. The airline has not increased CO2 pollution in nearly 13 years.

And perhaps the most impressive:

Last year, Lufthansa took a thorough look at ways to further improve aircraft efficiency when they allowed Lufthansa employees to board aircraft to help find additional ways to reduce aircraft weight. Nothing was “sacred” and everything was subject to scrutiny.

After this exercise, which included inspecting everything from the amount of trolleys, eating utensils, hangars, magazines and duty-free items on board, the weight and size of flashlights, quantity and weight of pillows and blankets, etc. etc., it was discovered that another 100 kilograms of excess and unnecessary weight could be removed from aircraft without impacting passenger safety and comfort.

As a result of this scrutiny which may seem trivial to most, Lufthansa discovered a substantial savings. By removing 100kg from each aircraft, and multiplying that by the thousands of flights that Lufthansa operates during the year Lufthansa has found a €2.6 million saving in fuel costs. Keep in mind that this savings means that thousands of gallons of jet fuel were saved and not burned into the atmosphere due to unnecessary items being transported aboard the aircraft.

Lufthansa has announced the beginning of a trial period that will test their latest Inflight Entertainment innovation known as “my media world”. The new technology is being piloted aboard a specific Munich based Airbus A-320, tail number D-AIPP that serves destinations throughout Europe.

In a nutshell, “my media world” is designed to let passengers leverage their own laptop, tablet or smart phone to access a variety of movies, TV and radio programming, destination guides as well as daily newspapers and other periodicals. This a fantastic new technology that brings inflight entertainment possibilities to anyone who carries a compatible device when they travel (and honestly, who DOESN’T fly with a laptop, smart phone or tablet?)

To be able to access the system, you need to make sure that you have the proper software or App installed on your device. For Apple users, you can find “my mediaworld” in Apple’s iTunes App Store and for Android users, you can download the App from the Google Play Store.

Please note that your app must be installed and authenticated BEFORE you board your flight. You will not be able to install the app once in-flight!

If you are a laptop user, you need to first ensure that you have Microsoft’s Silverlight installed (version 4.x or later). To check if your laptop is already configured, you can use this LINK to check your compatibility.

Once you have everything in place and are aboard the aircraft, accessing “my mediaworld” is easy. Once the cabin crew announces that it is OK to turn on electronic devices, power up your device and select “my mediaworld” from your device’s list of available networks. If you are using a laptop, “BoardConnect.aero” will automatically load on your internet browser when you first open it.

This new technology is a great step for Lufthansa as it seeks to provide passengers with more entertainment options while in flight, especially when flying on aircraft that do not have IFE systems installed.

I’m a big fan of being able to use my own devices while flying and not having to rely on an aircraft’s IFE system. With small screens and cumbersome navigation menus in place on antiquated IFE systems, something like “my mediaworld” should become an instant hit with Lufthansa passengers. Hopefully one of you will soon step aboard D-AIPP and can let us know your thoughts.

To help you start the New Year by learning how to manage stress in the workplace, Lufthansa is giving away copies of Stressfrei arbeiten. The book is a 256 page guide that seeks to provide you with great advice when it come to coping with stress in the workplace. The book is available through iTunes with the use of a special code. The offer is only available to iTune accounts that are registered in Germany. I tried changing my preferences to Germany, however it would not let me since my user name is USA based.

To take advantage of this offer and to download the book, please use this link to be taken to iTunes. Once you click on “Download Now” you will be prompted for a code. Enter KPNWAFF6FE7R at this point and the book should begin to download to your “iTunes” library.