What’s New and Notable?
The Lufthansa Group has opened bookings for its summer 2026 schedule, offering more than 14,000 weekly connections to 330 destinations in around 100 countries via hubs in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium and Italy. The programme includes new intercontinental and European routes, increased frequencies on many leisure and business services, and selective reductions on low-yield feeder routes.
Lufthansa Airlines from Frankfurt and Munich
From Frankfurt, Lufthansa will introduce five weekly long-haul services to St. Louis, Rio de Janeiro and Cape Town, and daily flights to Raleigh/Durham, Washington and Nairobi. Trondheim will be added from May 1, 2026, with four weekly services, supported by expanded Bergen and Stavanger frequencies. Munich will maintain an extended summer season with three weekly flights to São Paulo and three to Johannesburg, both operated with the Airbus A350‑900. To address cost pressures, more than 50 feeder frequencies within Germany will be reduced, and several regional connections will be discontinued or reviewed. The airline recently resumed services to Riyadh.
What has SWISS planned?
From March 29, 2026, SWISS will start Zurich–Poznań and will seasonally serve Rijeka in July and August. Frequency increases from Zurich are planned on a range of European routes, including Alicante, Valencia, Manchester, Montpellier, Tirana, Budapest and Venice. On the long-haul network, SWISS will operate daily Tokyo services in April, May and October and five weekly flights to Tokyo for the remainder of the season.
What about Austrian Airlines?
Austrian Airlines will focus on Mediterranean leisure markets while expanding its seasonal “coolcation” offering. Routes such as Sylt, Edinburgh and the Lofoten Islands will be resumed and grown following strong demand in the previous season.
A Big Announcement from ITA Airways
ITA Airways will resume Rome Fiumicino–London Heathrow with twice‑daily flights. The airline will increase peak‑season direct services from Rome Fiumicino and Milan Linate to destinations in Greece, Spain and the Italian islands. The carrier will publish full summer frequencies later.
Brussels Airlines, Edelweiss, and Discover Airlines
Brussels Airlines will add Kilimanjaro twice weekly from June 2026, increase capacity to Freetown (from five to six weekly, plus one additional on Thursdays), and boost European services to Spain, Portugal and Italy. Edelweiss expands long-haul from Zurich with twice-weekly Windhoek from June, higher frequencies to Seattle, Punta Cana and Tampa, and extended seasonal services to Halifax, Cape Town and Colombo. Discover Airlines introduces Shannon and Brindisi twice weekly, starts daily Larnaca services from Frankfurt and Munich and converts the Frankfurt–Seychelles route to year-round operation with an additional Saturday flight to Las Vegas.
Ready to Plan?
Passengers can now book summer 2026 travel across the group and should check schedules and aircraft types when choosing flights to match their travel needs.
