Having launched in July, Eurowings Discover – part of the Lufthansa Group – is growing fast. This winter, it will have 18 routes from Frankfurt, the only airport it serves in its home market of Germany. In summer 2022, it anticipates 43 routes.
Why was Eurowings Discovery created?
“The Lufthansa Group needs a leisure [vacation] airline,” said Helmut Woelfel, Chief Commercial Officer of Eurowings Discover. He spoke at World Routes in Milan, a ‘speed dating’ event between airlines and airports. “The idea for the airline came well before COVID.”
Eurowings Discover has the IATA code 4Y, making it distinct from Eurowings (EW). You’d be forgiven for thinking that the pair of carriers are pretty closely related, and to a certain extent, that’s true. However, while Discover focuses on Frankfurt, Eurowings itself has only one route from the airport (to Pristina). Indeed, Eurowings Discover has more in common with Condor, the leisure carrier formerly owned by Lufthansa.
While acknowledging that Eurowings Discover is “heavily dependent” on Lufthansa, Woelfel insisted that the two carriers are “sufficiently independent“. While the boundaries between parents and lower-cost subsidiaries are often blurred, which can be problematic, Woelfel said role of the new entrant is clear. “Lufthansa does not always have the right product, the right platform to target tourists.”
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18 destinations this winter
“We are looking at regions and airports unserved by German airlines,” Woelfel said. He quickly clarified what he meant. “Places that are growing.” This clarification could be because while Discover currently plans 18 routes from Frankfurt this winter, 12 are served by Condor, six by TUI fly, and two by Lufthansa itself. Fuerteventura and Tenerife South will welcome four German airlines, OAG schedules information shows.
This winter, only four routes – Marrakesh, Tampa, Windhoek, and Zanzibar – will have no head-to-head competition. Eurowings Discover began Frankfurt to the Namibian capital, Windhoek, on August 10th; it has a five-weekly service.
Various carriers have operated Frankfurt to Windhoek over the years, including Condor (2014-2019) and Air Namibia (until 2020). Eurowings started it in 2019 and was replaced by Lufthansa itself in June 2021 – only to be replaced two months later by Eurowings Discovery. Expect more route replacements and network realignments in the future as both airlines focus on their relative strengths.
43 routes are scheduled for summer 2022
In summer 2022, Eurowings Discover has scheduled 43 routes from Frankfurt, including Anchorage, Fort Myers, Las Vegas, Panama City, Salt Lake City, and Tampa. Anchorage and Las Vegas will have two airlines from Frankfurt. The Alaska link will have up to six weekly flights, while up to eight will operate to Nevada.
The long 4,534 nautical mile trip to Utah will be the first time Frankfurt has been connected non-stop to it, while the carrier will replace Lufthansa to Tampa (2015-2020) and Panama City (2016-2020). Frankfurt to Fort Myers, meanwhile, was last served by Condor in 2007.
Use of the A320
Eurowings Discover will also serve nine destinations across Greece using a fleet of three A320ceos, together with other narrowbody routes to Bulgaria, Egypt, Italy, Portugal, Spain, and Tunisia. “We’re concentrating on tourism demand, something that’s far less important for Lufthansa.”
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