While you’ll still be able to catch a Lufthansa A380 at LAX, you’ll now need to travel to a different city.
Effective yesterday, Lufthansa shifted its A380 from Frankfurt to Munich for its Los Angels routes.
An A380 now operates on the daily Munich route:
Lufthansa LH 453
Los Angeles – LAX
5:20 PM
Munich – MUC
03/27/18 1:30 PM
A380-800 (388)
Lufthansa LH 452
Munich – MUC
05/17/18 12:00 PM
Los Angeles – LAX
05/17/18 3:05 PM
A380-800 (388)
For the next two months, the sole daily Frankfurt flight will be operated by an A340-600:
Lufthansa LH 457
Los Angeles – LAX
3:10 PM
Frankfurt – FRA
11:20 AM
A340-600 (346)
Lufthansa LH 456
Frankfurt – FRA
10:15 AM
Los Angeles – LAX
1:15 PM
A340-600 (346)
On May 17th, Lufthansa will resume it second daily service to Los Angeles, utilizing a 747-8:
Lufthansa LH 451
Los Angeles – LAX
7:05 PM
Frankfurt – FRA
2:50 PM
747-8 (74H)
Lufthansa LH 450
Frankfurt – FRA
2:05 PM
Los Angeles – LAX
4:50 PM
747-8 (74H)
During the past few summers, Lufthansa has alternated the A380 and 747-8 on LH456/457, with the evening LH451/452 always a 747-8.
All aircraft will maintain first class cabins.
CONCLUSION
We’ll also see the A380 shift from Frankfurt to Munich this summer on the following routes:
- Hong Kong
- Beijing
- Los Angeles
- Seoul
Munich has a beautiful new international terminal that is not operating at capacity. By directing more connecting traffic via Munich, Lufthansa hopes to strengthen its second major hub.
Too bad they did not do this last summer when I traveled with them to Athens by way of Munich. It would have been nice to try them out.
Hey Matthew,
Is there a practical difference in First we would notice with the Frankfurt aircraft swap? I’ve only ever flown the A380 on the 3:10 pm outbound. I absolutely love that flight.
Thanks!
What I love about the A380 First Class on Lufthansa is the oversized lavatories and how quiet it is. The seat itself will essentially be the same and service will be identical.
Thanks. Well I can live with a smaller lav, just so no one starts rationing caviar. 😉
The 346 is noisier than the 380. Plus you won’t have an upper deck experience on the 346.
BTW: LH owns a share in the terminal in Munich so they have a vested interest in directing traffic there. Plus they had a Long struggle with the operator of the airport in Frankfurt which is the reason Frankfurt doen’t have any 350 LH routes yet.
It looks like Lufthansa is going back to the A380 for LAX-FRA in the fall, and putting the A346 back on the Munich route. I see no news about this — just what I’ve noticed from searching for flights. Was this planned, or is Lufthansa already regretting the LAX shuffle?
Interesting. Thanks for the heads up. This is a change. Will write about it tomorrow.