DJN: *WSJ: Lufthansa To Launch A380 On Frankfurt-NYC Route - CEO
By Scott McCartney
Of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
FRANKFURT (Dow Jones--The head of Deutsche Lufthansa AG (LHA.XE) said Friday
that the German carrier will inaugurate its Airbus A380 super jumbo on
service between Frankfurt and New York next year.
Chief Executive Wolfgang Mayrhuber said the German airline had evaluated 12
markets from its Frankfurt hub for the new aircraft -- including Tokyo,
Shanghai, Johannesburg and Los Angeles -- before opting for New York.
Lufthansa is the second European customer for the A380, following Air
France-KLM, which will start service with the aircraft from Paris to New
York later this month.
(This story and related background material will be available on The Wall
Street Journal Web site, WSJ.com.)
The launches come as A380 customers, including Lufthansa and British Airways
PLC (BAIRY, BAY.LN), examine ways to defer some deliveries of the A380 and
other aircraft because of the global downturn in passenger and freight
traffic.
Emirates Airline, the Dubai-based launch customer for the A380, dropped the
large-capacity aircraft from its Dubai-New York service earlier this year
because of weak traffic, particularly high-yielding business passengers.
Mayrhuber, speaking to a group of frequent fliers from the online community
FlyerTalk.com, said Lufthansa will take delivery of its first A380 next
spring and have the double-deck aircraft in service beginning with its
summer schedule.
Mayrhuber said the A380, which carries about 500 passengers when outfitted
with three classes of service, will replace one 330-passenger Boeing 747
trip between New York´s Kennedy International Airport and Frankfurt.
Passenger feed from JetBlue Airways Corp. (JBLU), in which Lufthansa now
owns a 20% stake, may help Lufthansa grow in New York, "but this was not the
reason" to start the A380 in the New York market, he said.
Amazing for a terminal which sees way toooo much LH Régional.
Star Mega Do 
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