Lufthansa to start Milan operation

From February 2009, Lufthansa will offer passengers a greatly expanded service from Milan Malpensa to attractive European destinations. Direct flights will then be available from the North Italian city to Barcelona, Brussels, Budapest, Bucharest, Madrid and Paris.

In the 2009 summer timetable London and Lisbon will be added as further destinations. "With the introduction of our new, direct flights from Milan, we will be able to offer customers in Italy a reliable service with the usual high Lufthansa quality," said Karl Ulrich Garnadt, Executive Vice President of Lufthansa Passenger Airlines. "Milan Malpensa's catchment area extends as far as the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland and is one of the key economic regions in Europe. Moreover, by expanding our services, we will create about 150 new jobs in Milan."

Next year, Lufthansa will base six Airbus A319s in Italy rather than Embraer 195s, as originally planned. The A319s will be operated by Lufthansa's Italian subsidiary Air Dolomiti. "Lufthansa is very well positioned in Italy. It is extremely popular with Italian customers and demand is high. Our new services from Italy not only offer familiar Lufthansa values such as reliability and top quality, but also combine these with Italian flair on board," Garnadt added.

The flights from Milan can be booked from mid-October via the usual distribution channels. Round-trip flights are available for as little as 99 euros, including taxes, charges and the Lufthansa Ticket Service Charge for tickets booked online at www.lufthansa.com. Lufthansa passengers departing from Milan can also choose from a wide range of existing flights.

At present, Lufthansa operates 185 direct flights per week from Milan Malpensa and Milan Linate to five destinations in Germany. Of that number, 115 flights go to Lufthansa's Frankfurt and Munich hubs, from where passengers have a choice of convenient, non-stop connections to more than 200 destinations worldwide.