Lufthansa has published the first images of its new dedicated concourse at Frankfurt airport's Terminal 1.
When it opens in summer 2011, the A0 development will increase capacity by an extra six million passengers a year at the German carrier's hub. Plans for the new concourse include stands for seven aircraft and retail areas on four levels, as well as five new premium lounges and Frankfurt's first arrivals lounge.
The building phase of the project is due to start next year, but demolition work is well under way. Most of Lufthansa's main operations centre has been relocated to make way for the new concourse, and most of the original buildings have already bitten the dust, including the famous "butterfly" hangar (as immortalised in this YouTube clip).
Marianne Sammann, general manager UK & Ireland, told Business Traveller: "This will mean a significant increase in capacity at Frankfurt. The whole project is now laid out, and the concourse will be very flexible in that we will be able to park both long and short-range aircraft, including our fleet of A380s."
In other news, Lufthansa is relaunching services to Argentina and Pakistan as part of its winter timetable. From the end of October, the carrier will offer five direct flights a week from Frankfurt to Buenos Aires and three weekly services to Karachi.
The direct route to Argentina was dropped from the schedule in the wake of the country's economic crisis in 2001-02, and Lufthansa passengers have since had to connect in Sao Paolo. Sammann explained: "Buenos Aires was dropped because we were not able to sustain the route profitability, but now we are seeing the demand again."
Lufthansa has in the past served Pakistan via Dubai, so the non-stop route to Karachi is a first for the carrier, as is the onward connection to Lahore. The service will depart Frankfurt on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
For more information, visit lufthansa.com.
Report by Lucy Fitzgeorge-Parker
