On Site: Future Plans for Lufthansa

Travel Agent is just back from Dusseldorf, Germany, where we had been last week touring the city. We met with Lufthansa's Head of Corporate Communications Martin Ricken, on July 24, who brought us up to speed on what the airline has planned for the future.

Your first question may be similar to ours. Why travel to Dusseldorf? People think they know Dusseldorf as a center for business, trade shows and conferences. What they don't know is that the city is also home to museums, galleries, culture, castles and festivals, and it is also a fashion hub for Germany. There is no reason why this city should be overlooked by leisure travelers who are planning to get to Germany.

The easiest way to reach Dusseldorf from the United States is via Lufthansa, which touches 22 destinations in North America with 259 weekly flights to Frankfurt, Munich and Dusseldorf. The airline is part of the Star Alliance network, which is a compilation of top destinations, countries flown to and member airlines.

Lufthansa is affiliated with Swiss International Air Lines, Brussels Airlines, British Midland International, Australia Airlines and JetBlue. Note: Lufthansa has a codesharing agreement with JetBlue.

For the second half of 2010, we were told travelers can look forward to year-round service between Toronto and Dusseldorf, Montreal and Munich and Washington and Munich. There will also be additional service from Newark to Frankfurt and added frequency between Seattle and Frankfurt.

Earlier this year Lufthansa introduced a new First Class on flights to Tokyo and soon to Beijing and Johannesburg. These cabins of eight seats include extra large, luxury-style bathrooms, beds that lay completely flat with divider screens and 17-inch screen televisions. The hope is to introduce the new first class on North American flights in 2011.

The airline also plans to introduce internet onboard on worldwide flights by late summer/early fall.

Luxury touch: Lufthansa has its own private jet fleet servicing 1,000 destinations in Europe and Russia with a fixed price.

Read about our trip to Dusseldorf on Lufthansa's Business Class here and stay tuned for our full story on Dusseldorf in an upcoming issue of Travel Agent Magazine.

Visit www.lufthansa.com.