It was a cold week down in Austin with some significant snow falling early in the week. However, it was nothing close to the 8-10+ inches that struck South Louisiana and the Florida Panhandle. All of that time inside gave me a chance to compile the top travel stories for the weekly recap for January 25, 2025.
Multiple Airports Close In Advance of Winter Weather
While things have mostly returned to normal, Texas and the surrounding area were hit with a massive snowstorm earlier in the week. This led to closures of both commercial airports in the Houston area as well as cancellations and delays from Austin to Atlanta. The New Orleans area saw over eight inches of snow.
Lufthansa is Deploying the Airbus A380 to Five U.S. Destinations This Summer
Lufthansa is returning all eight of its Airbus A380 aircraft to service in 2025 and U.S. airports are the primary focus for the superjumbo jet. The German flag carrier will fly its A380s between Munich (MUC) and five airports in the United States with one destination standing out above all others.
The airline will fly its A380 to Denver International Airport (DEN) for the first time this summer. This marks the first regularly scheduled A380 service to Denver and highlights a massive capacity increase for the Star Alliance carrier in Denver.
Qatar Airways is Launching Flights to Colombia and Venezuela
Qatar Airways announced this week that it is launching 2x weekly flights between its hub in Doha to Bogotá El Dorado International Airport (BOG) in Colombia, and Caracas Simon Bolivar International Airport (CCS) in Venezuela. The flights will operate on Wednesdays and Sundays using Boeing 777-200LR aircraft.
Delta is Restarting Flights to Tel Aviv
For the first time since the October 11, 2023 terrorist attacks, Delta is restarting flights between New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and Ben Gurion Airport (TLV) in Tel Aviv. The carrier initially planned to resume service in June 2024, but those flights were postponed. Flights are now scheduled to resume on April 1, 2025 using Airbus A330-900neo aircraft.
Untangling the Delta Sky Club Access Requirements
In addition to the aviation and travel related news from this week, I sat down to try and untangle the mess that is Delta Sky Club access. While I find Delta to have the best of the big three U.S. carriers when it comes to lounges, the access requirements can leave you scratching your head. Hopefully you leave less confused after reading this.
Summary
While winter weather battered the southern United States, airlines around the globe were busy making new route announcements. I’m excited to see the return of the Lufthansa A380 to multiple U.S. markets and see Qatar Airways continue to branch out with new destinations. Thank you for checking out the January 25, 2025 weekly recap and we’ll see you next week!
(Images courtesy Lufthansa, Qatar Airways, and Delta Air Lines)
