Lufthansa will return to the Falkland Islands with another longhaul flight from Germany, departing this evening with a crew of scientists onboard.
Lufthansa Returns To Falkland Islands On Longest-Ever LH Flight
On February, 1, 2021, Lufthansa operated LH2574 from Hamburg (HAM) to Mount Pleasant (MPM), an 8,266 mile journey of over 15 hours. This marked the longest Lufthansa flight in company history.
The reason for the journey was to transport scientists and ship crew members to the Falklands for research on ocean currents, sea ice, and the carbon cycle in the Southern Ocean. The return flight, LH2575, operated to Munich (MUC), with other scientists and crew members transported back after extended duty assignments.
Over 600 flight attendants applied to take part in this service, even though it required a two week quarantine prior to departure and an additional quarantine upon arrival in Mount Pleasant (needless to say, COVID-19 on a small island with limited medical facilities is not ideal).
Lufthansa will operate the flight again today on behalf of the Alfred Wegener Institute, transporting 40 crew members of the research vessel Polarstern as well as scientists from the German Aerospace Center (Deutschen Zentrums für Luft- und Raumfahrt). An A350-900 (D-AIXQ) will be utilized for the flight and passengers and crew members have had to go through a similar quarantine process prior to departure.
LH2574, same flight number as in February, will depart Hamburg at 9:30pm tonight. Scientists who have been in Mount Pleasant since February will return with the A350, reaching Germany in time for the Easter holidays (though they will have to quarantine). That flight will operate as LH2575 to Munich. Fresh scientists and crew members will continue the research work as the weather turns cooler as the Southern Hemisphere emerges from summer.
Lufthansa will also travel with its own maintenance and engineering staff, waste containers for the outbound and return journeys, and the flights will be double-catered in Hamburg.
CONCLUSION
Lufthansa is returning to the Falklands tonight with another longhaul flight. As long as coronavirus numbers remain high in South Africa (the usual transit point), expect more of these flights.
images: Lufthansa // Falkland Islands (1st shot) Antarctica (2nd shot)
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