Lufthansa is expanding its presence in California with a 70% increase in nonstop service between San Diego International Airport (SAN) and Munich (Germany) via Franz Josef Strauss International Airport (MUC) beginning April 2024.
San Diego is one of the 30 passenger markets between the United States and Europe that has recovered the most in the face of the pandemic crisis. The number of SAN-Europe travelers is now 12% higher than in 2019, and additional services to Munich will contribute to increased demand in the region
Lufthansa currently operates three times a week on the San Diego-Munich route. Starting in April next year, service will increase to five days a week and move to daily flights by June 2024.
Flight schedule between Munich and San Diego
- Munich – San Diego Flight LH 466 MUC 12:35 – SAN 15:25
- San Diego – Munich Flight LH 467 SAN 17:15 – MUC 13:20+1
By summer 2024, Lufthansa will offer more than 65,700 seats per month between the Bavarian capital and California, representing an increase in capacity of more than 200% compared to 2023 levels. In addition to its services to San Diego, the German airline will have a daily flight to Los Angeles operated Airbus A380 and a daily service to San Francisco performed on Airbus A350-900s.
«Munich has been one of the most popular international destinations for travelers. Seeing Lufthansa expand its service frequency to daily flights next year will provide even more opportunities for leisure and business travel and support continued economic growth in both regions,» said Kimberly Becker, President and CEO of the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority.
The SAN-MUC route will be operated on Airbus A350-900 aircraft with a three-class seating capacity of 293 seats. Previously, Lufthansa had nonstop flights to Frankfurt, but they were suspended in March 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, the German carrier along with British Airways are the only airlines offering scheduled passenger flights between Europe and San Diego. During the high season, Air France offers charter services from Paris-Charles de Gaulle.
«San Diego has become one of our main gateways to the West Coast and we are delighted to fly daily to Munich starting in the 2024 summer season. For our customers it means additional travel opportunities, not only to Bavaria, but to all of Europe, Africa, the Middle East and beyond,» said Dirk Janzen, Vice President Passenger Sales, The Americas, Lufthansa Group Airlines.
Munich, along with London and Paris, are the European cities with the highest demand from SAN. San Diego International Airport and its partner airlines provide nonstop service to London, Munich, Tokyo, Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Montreal, San Jose del Cabo, Puerto Vallarta and Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo.
See also: Lufthansa boosts US west coast service with flights between Munich and Seattle