Lufthansa to launch non-stop flight from Düsseldorf to Tokyo
14.10.11
As of summer 2012 Japan’s capital will have a direct connection to North Rhine-Westphalia // Expansion at Lufthansa’s Düsseldorf hub continues // Six flights per week
Lufthansa continues to expand successfully and will soon also start offering long-haul flights to Asia from Düsseldorf. As of summer 2012, Lufthansa will be offering its passengers the first non-stop flight from North Rhine-Westphalia to the Japanese capital of Tokyo. The new route will be launched on 1 June 2012 and shall be offered six times per week with an Airbus A 340-300. The launch represents the next step as the airline continues to consistently expand the offer at its Düsseldorf hub.
“Following the introduction of intercontinental routes to the major North American cities of New York, Chicago, Miami and Toronto, we are now expanding our offer towards Asia with a direct flight to Tokyo,” commented Oliver Wagner, Senior Vice President Direct Services at Deutsche Lufthansa. “As one of the most important economic nations, Japan is of major significance to Lufthansa and at the same time, Düsseldorf’s central location in Europe’s most important conurbation makes its “Japan’s capital on the Rhine”. In addition, the integration of Tokyo will help to develop and strengthen our route network at Lufthansa’s Düsseldorf hub and will offer passengers attractive connecting flights to over 50 direct destinations in Germany and Europe.”
“A direct connection between Düsseldorf and Tokyo is the culmination of the many years of hard work that we have invested in consolidating and expanding Düsseldorf as a hub of Japanese trade and industry. It has been a long-standing wish of the Japanese community and the city itself to have a direct flight to Japan. The economic power of our region, our business relations with Japan and the many Japanese companies here, make such a connection more than worthwhile. Lufthansa has now brought Düsseldorf and Japan even closer together,” commented Dirk Elbers, Lord Mayor of Düsseldorf, the State capital of North-Rhine Westphalia.
“The new Tokyo route again shows what an important role Düsseldorf Airport plays in making North-Rhine Westphalia internationally accessible,” said Christoph Blume, Spokesperson of the Airport Management. Blume went on to add: “We are very pleased to be able to offer yet another attractive long-haul route from the Düsseldorf hub in cooperation with our partner Lufthansa. The launch of this route represents a further milestone within the framework of our strategy to establish interesting intercontinental offers, and one from which the economy and tourism shall also greatly benefit.” Düsseldorf Airport is already offering about 90 weekly departures for long-haul routes this winter.
The new connection between Düsseldorf and Tokyo will see Lufthansa open yet another chapter of its 50-year partnership with the Asian country. The first scheduled Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt to Tokyo already took off in 1961. From 1968 until the 1980s, with a few interruptions, Lufthansa flew from Düsseldorf to Tokyo with a technical stop in Anchorage/USA. Together with SWISS and Austrian Airlines, Lufthansa now offers 80 connections per week between Japan and Europe, making Lufthansa one of the leading European airlines in Japan.
The Düsseldorf region is the number one Japanese hub in Germany – with over 500 Japanese companies located in the region. A quarter of all Japanese citizens in living in Germany live in the North Rhine-Westphalian capital, making it the third largest Japanese community in Europe, behind London and Paris. In May 2011, the State of North Rhine-Westphalia and its capital Düsseldorf celebrated the 150-year anniversary of their trade relations with Japan. The highlight of the ‘Japanese Year’ will be the 10th edition of the ‘Japan Day’ in Düsseldorf on 15 October 2011. The ‘Japan Day’ is a German-Japanese cultural festival of encounter and one of the most popular events in North Rhine-Westphalia’s capital.
The return flight from Düsseldorf to Tokyo and back will be available from 849 euros. The price applies for Economy Class tickets booked online at
www.lufthansa.com and includes all taxes, fees and the Lufthansa Ticket Service Charge. Miles & More passengers can collect up to 37.600 miles on these flights – depending on booking class and status. Information on the new direct connection and bookings are available online, through the Lufthansa Call Center at 01805 805 805 (€0.14 per minute), at Lufthansa travel agency partners and at the Lufthansa ticket desks in the airports.
The new connection at a glance
Düsseldorf – Tokyo/Narita (Japan)
Airports/
three-letter-code/
time zone (summer time)
Düsseldorf (DUS); GMT +02:00 hours
Tokyo/Narita (NRT); GMT +09:00 hours
Schedule
(all stated times are local times; summer time)
as of 1 June 2012 – DUS-NRT daily except Tuesdays, NRT-DUS daily except Wednesdays
LH 716 Düsseldorf 13:00 hours – Tokyo/Narita 07:30 hours
LH 717 Düsseldorf 09:00 hours – Tokyo/Narita 14:20 hours
Flight time
(on average)
Düsseldorf – Tokyo/Narita: 11:30 hours
Tokyo/Narita – Düsseldorf: 12:20 hours
Distance
9,354 kilometres/ 5,812 miles
Aircraft type
Airbus A 340-300
Seats
8/48/165 seats (First/Business/Economy) = total 221
Deutsche Lufthansa AG
Corporate Communications West