Lufthansa, the German flag carrier, has revealed where it plans to deploy its Airbus A380 aircraft this summer and there is a heavy focus on the United States, including one airport that has never seen scheduled service from the super-jumbo jet.
Lufthansa operates a small fleet of Airbus A380 aircraft with eight total in operation, the carrier had a larger fleet but retired 6 of its A380 aircraft during the Covid-19 pandemic. Lufthansa’s A380s are outfitted in a four cabin configuration featuring eight seats in First Class, 78 seats in Business Class, 52 seats in Premium Economy and 371 seats in Economy.
Lufthansa exclusively operates its A380 fleet on flights to and from its hub at Munich Airport (MUC) and plans to operate service to the following U.S. destinations this Summer:
- Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) between March 29 and October 27, 2025
- Denver International Airport (DEN) between April 30 and September 30, 2025
- Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) between March 1 and October 27, 2025
- New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) between April 28 and October 27, 2025
- Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) between April 28 and October 27, 2025
The airline will also deploy the A380 between Munich and Delhi, India this summer.
The destination that stands out to me the most here in Denver. The airport has never had regularly scheduled A380 service and, to my knowledge, doesn’t have a double decker boarding gate to accommodate the A380. It will be interesting to see if the airport has plans to add a third jet bridge to one of its gates before service starts in April or if it will use dual-jet bridge loading and unloading. With 500+ seats on the A380, that could take quite a while.
Massive Growth in Denver
Lufthansa is part of Star Alliance and operates a transatlantic joint venture with multiple alliance members including United Airlines. United has a massive, and rapidly growing, hub operation in the mile high city and Lufthansa’s use of the A380 on the route illustrates the amount of capacity flowing to and through this hub. Heiko Reitz, Chief Customer Officer at Lufthansa, had this to say about using the A380 on the route:
“The Airbus A380 service to Denver is not only a first for Lufthansa, but also for the airport itself. It is the first time that a scheduled flight with an aircraft of this size will land there. Passengers, airport visitors and crews love the A380, the flying experience and the feeling of space. At the same time, the A380 offers more premium seats than any other aircraft.”
In addition to deploying the A380 on the route, Lufthansa plans to operate an additional daily flight between Munich and Denver along with two daily flights between its hub at Frankfurt Airport (FRA) and Denver this summer, giving the airline a ton of capacity in the market.
Though it has been years since I’ve flown on a Lufthansa A380, long before the existence of this site, I remember it being a comfortable ride even in Economy. While the hard product on the A380 is far from cutting edge, and the airline isn’t expected to upgrade the aircraft with its new Allegris seats, it does provide quite a bit of premium capacity. I know at least one Denver based frequent flyer who will make good use of the additional First Class capacity.
Summary
Lufthansa has revealed the destinations it will fly its Airbus A380 aircraft this summer. Five of the six routes are in the United States and one airport, Denver, is receiving its first ever regularly scheduled A380 service. The airline is pouring quite a bit of capacity into the Denver market as its joint venture partner United continues to build up its hub there.