LUFTHANSA will reopen its Jakarta route and offer five weekly flights from Frankfurt starting March 30, 2014, marking a comeback for the German air carrier since it suspended this service in October 2012.
Using Airbus A340-600 aircraft that can accommodate eight first class seats, 48 business class seats and 270 economy class seats, flights will connect through Kuala Lumpur, which will also see new non-stop services from Frankfurt next year.
The return of the service is part of the airline’s restructuring of its South-east Asia network (TTG Asia e-Daily, November 11, 2013).
Leandro Tonidandel, general manager Indonesia of Lufthansa, said: “We had served Indonesia for 45 years (before the suspension)…However, the company went through a big network restructuring process last year. This saw Singapore-Frankfurt getting an Airbus A380, which could not land in Jakarta.”
With the absence of a Jakarta service, Lufthansa had been feeding traffic to Singapore, Bangkok and Hong Kong, resulting in a higher-than-targeted performance this year, Tonidandel pointed out.
“This is also part of the reason why we came back,” he explained.
Meanwhile, Lufthansa’s partnerships with Garuda Indonesia, Jetstar and Singapore Airlines are also helping to link the airline’s gateways in Asia with different regions in Indonesia.
Said Tonidandel: “Customers in Medan can reach Kuala Lumpur and Singapore very easily; those from Surabaya can link through Jakarta and Singapore; and those from Central Java can easily reach Jakarta or Singapore.”
