Eurowings Discover gets ready for its first summer

Half a million passengers carried – a milestone reached this week by Eurowings Discover. Meanwhile, the young vacation airline, which took off on its maiden flight in July 2021, already offers 165 flights per week from Lufthansa’s hubs Frankfurt and Munich. Over the course of the summer schedule, the Group Airline will “step it up a notch” and expand its range of vacation destinations to nearly 50 short-, medium- and long-haul destinations.

However, Omikron and the strict quarantine regulations of recent months have affected the still small and nascent airline operation. The pandemic has slowed crew education and training and delayed the planned build-up path. In addition, Eurowings Discover, like many other airlines, faces staff shortages in the cockpit and cabin in the coming months. Due to the surge in demand and the expected catch-up effect in summer 2022, many airlines are simultaneously ramping up their operations and hiring staff.

Lufthansa Airlines therefore temporarily took over the Frankfurt-Mauritius route in April and Frankfurt-Tampa in May for Eurowings Discover to bridge staff shortages and peak demand. In addition, the young vacation airline already concluded wet lease agreements with Air Baltic and now also with Finnair in order to be able to respond to the expected strong demand in the summer and to fly its guests reliably to their vacations. The temporary use of wetlease aircraft during summer peaks is particularly common in highly seasonally driven markets such as tourism.

Wetlease with Air Baltic from Munich

As a proven Lufthansa Group wetlease partner, Air Baltic (BT) will operate two aircraft for Eurowings Discover from May 1, 2022. The two Airbus A220s will be deployed on short- and medium-haul routes from Munich from May to October and will also be based there. Eurowings Discover still plans to open its short-haul base in Munich in June and to station and operate five of its own Airbus A320s there during the year.

New wetlease partner Finnair

Eurowings Discover has also secured Finnair (AY) as a new wetlease partner for the Lufthansa Group. Finnair will initially operate two Airbus A350s from Frankfurt and Munich on long-haul flights for Eurowings Discover. A further Airbus A350 will be added in June. The three aircraft will be deployed between mid-May and October on routes including Frankfurt-Tampa and Frankfurt-Las Vegas and Munich-Las Vegas.

Eurowings Discover also offers its guests the three-class cabin configuration with Economy, Premium Economy and Business Class on board Finnair. The in-flight product on the wetlease flights also matches the food and beverage selection aboard Eurowings Discover long-haul flights. “We are delighted to have gained Finnair as a strong wetlease partner for the Lufthansa Group. The cooperation with Finnair has been very constructive, so that we were able to set up the wetlease agreement in record time of just a few weeks. With the Lufthansa Group behind us, our highly motivated crew and strong wetlease partners at our side, we now feel well prepared for our first “real” summer and look forward to flying our guests on vacation,” says Helmut Wölfel, Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) at Eurowings Discover.

Eurowings Discover increases salaries for cockpit and cabin staff

In light of the changing market situation – a strong summer and the ramp-up of many flight operations at the same time – Eurowings Discover has decided to make adjustments to cockpit and cabin salaries in order to remain competitive as an employer in the future. While the establishment of Eurowings Discover coincided with the most severe crisis in aviation, during which no reliable forecasts for market and demand development were possible, the strong summer now forecast and the resulting change in the market situation enables and requires an adjustment in salaries for cockpit and cabin staff.

Eurowings Discover will start the summer flight schedule with 16 of its own aircraft, ten Airbus A330s and six Airbus A320s. In addition, there will be five wetlease aircraft. Instead of reaching its target fleet size of 21 of its own aircraft by the middle of the summer as planned, Eurowings Discover will not do so until the end of 2022.