Landed in Guarulhos this Tuesday (03) the Lufthansa flight LH504, coming from Munich, Germany. This is the resumption of the route between the capital of São Paulo and the famous city of Bavaria, which had been interrupted in October 2016 – so, just over three years ago. This time, the German airline switched to the new Airbus A350-900 twin-engine which replaced the used A340-600 quad engine even before the flight was suspended.
Unlike the first phase, when the flights were daily, now the connection between Sao Paulo and Munich will be performed only three times a week. Configured to carry 293 passengers in three classes (48 executive, 21 premium economy and 223 economy), the A350 takes off from Sao Paulo on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays at 18h, landing in Munich the next morning at 9:35. Return flights depart from the Bavarian capital on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays at 10:30 pm, arriving in Sao Paulo at 7:55 am the next day.
“We are honored to connect Sao Paulo to our premium hub in Munich again. This is the first time Lufthansa has been using the Airbus 350-900, the world’s most modern and sustainable long-haul aircraft on flights to South America, ”said Markus Binkert, vice president of marketing and head of Lufthansa’s hub. in Munich.
With 15 units in its fleet today, Lufthansa debuts its advanced jet in Brazil, a model that is part of the modernization program that the company has put in place in recent years and includes other aircraft such as the Boeing 787 and the new 777X. It is precisely because it is so much more efficient than the four-engined engines that the route to Munich became possible again – of course helped by the slight improvement in the Brazilian economy during this period.
Largest concentration of German companies in the world
Interestingly, Lufthansa cited the number of German companies headquartered in the state of Sao Paulo as the reason for the call. It is the largest concentration outside Germany: there are 900 companies and more than 1,200 throughout Brazil. However, in this three-year hiatus this factor does not seem to have been sufficient to maintain the route.
Lufthansa’s second most important hub, Munich has good connectivity to other destinations in Europe, as well as being a more modern airport than Frankfurt. Interest in flying to the city had also been demonstrated by LATAM, which announced its flights had started in June but canceled the route before that. At the time, the company alleged over-supply to Europe, but also difficulties with Brazilian legislation requiring a crew rest area on its Boeing 767-300 on long-haul flights.
The new route between Germany and Brazil comes at a time when the country has just missed flights with the departure of Condor, an airline that met a demand focused on tourism and flying to cities in the Northeast. Affected by the bankruptcy of Thomas Cook, its main shareholder, the company suspended its flights in September.
