Lufthansa Eurowings Discover Takes Off

This past Sunday, there was a new airline launch when Eurowings Discover took off from Frankfurt to Mombasa, continuing service to Zanzibar.

The IATA two-letter designated for Eurowings Discover is 4Y and the short-haul Eurowings EW. The new Lufthansa group leisure long and medium-haul airline plans to fly to 17 destinations in 2021.

You can access Eurowings Discover here.

Long-haul Fleet

The airline plans to operate Airbus A330 aircraft and later some A320s as well. In addition, there is a 2-2-2 business class cabin.

Destinations per Wikipedia

Business Class

Eurowings Discovery has released the above images of its business class product. The seat looks very familiar Lufthansa ones.

Here’s the press release from Lufthansa:

„4Y134 Airborne“: Eurowings Discover inaugural flight takes off

• Eurowings Discover inaugural flight departed Frankfurt this evening, heading to Mombasa with onward flight to Zanzibar
• High-quality product with many services included
• 15 additional long and medium-haul destinations in 2021 – Punta Cana and Windhoek starting August 9 and 10

At 7:45 p.m. this evening, Lufthansa Group’s newest airline Eurowings Discover left its parking position at Frankfurt Airport, departing on its inaugural flight (4Y134). Operated by an Airbus 330-200, passengers will be traveling from Frankfurt to Mombasa and, after a stopover of about one hour, continue onward to Zanzibar. Eurowings Discover is the only European airline currently offering direct flights to Mombasa. The captain on the inaugural flight is Wolfgang Raebiger, who is also Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Eurowings Discover.

The Lufthansa Group’s new leisure airline has been granted its Air Operator Certificate (AOC) by the German Federal Aviation Authority on June 16 this year and will be commencing flight operations this summer as planned under the airline’s own flight code “4Y”.

High-quality product with many services included

For the first time ever, guests on board flight 4Y134 will have the opportunity to test the product and service of Eurowings Discover. The aircraft has a total of 270 seats, 22 of which are in Business Class (lie-flat seats). Over the next few months, all Eurowings Discover aircraft will gradually become equipped with up to 31 Premium Economy Class seats.

In all three classes, guests can look forward to a special, high-quality travel experience with all meals and non-alcoholic beverages included in the price. In Business Class, all beverages will be offered free of charge, while in the Premium Economy Class there will also be a complimentary selection of beer and wine. There is also a variety of Buy-on-Board offers from which travelers in Economy Class and Premium Economy Class can select additional snacks and alcoholic beverages.

Next to the culinary experience, Eurowings Discover also provides excellent entertainment onboard the flight to your vacation – completely free of charge in all classes. With their own screens, travelers can choose from over 50 movies, 80 TV programs, and numerous sound tracks. Another special feature on board Eurowings Discover: guests can quickly and easily connect to the Onboard-Cloud via their own device to receive an extended entertainment offer with a wide selection of magazines and over 50 cutting-edge games, gaming streams as well as an integrated gaming platform.

Further expansion of the flight schedule starting in August

In addition to the sunny destinations Mombasa and Zanzibar, Eurowings Discover will be flying to Punta Cana from August 9 and to Windhoek from August 10. On September 30, the airline will start operating from Frankfurt to Las Vegas and from October 1 to the dream island of Mauritius. Bridgetown (November 1), Cancún (November 1), Varadero (November 2) and Montego Bay (November 3) will also be added in the winter flight schedule.

The airline will also add attractive medium-haul routes to its portfolio starting in November 2021, with flights from Frankfurt to the Canary Islands of Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Tenerife, as well as to Hurghada and Marsa Alam in Egypt, and Marrakech in Morocco. From summer 2022 onwards, Eurowings Discover will also be operating short-, medium- and long-haul flights out of the Munich hub.

About Eurowings Discover

Eurowings Discover is the new leisure airline of the Lufthansa Group. Operating out of Frankfurt, this new carrier takes travelers to the world’s most beautiful short, medium and long haul destinations. The mission of Eurowings Discover is to tailor the travel experience to the guests’ individual needs and to make the flight a special experience. As part of the Lufthansa network, travelers can benefit from direct connections and seamless transfers to and from all German and European Lufthansa destinations, as well as an end-to-end booking process. With matched offers from SWISS and Edelweiss, the Lufthansa Group has successfully operated this combined business model at the Zurich hub for many years already. As a wholly owned subsidiary of Deutsche Lufthansa AG, the airline can draw on the expertise and experience of one of the world’s leading aviation companies.

Conclusion

I guess that this Eurowings Discover will replace Sunexpress Deutschland, a partnership with Lufthansa and Turkish Airways that ended last year.

Lufthansa likely repurposes some of their older planes and moves them to Eurowings Discover that then flies to more leisurely destinations with a lower yield.

One can assume that the cockpit and cabin crew are under different contracts than the main Lufthansa ones, making the airline more cost-effective to these leisure destinations.

Eurowings, at least supposedly, flies all the Lufthansa flights to/from Germany that doesn’t touch Munich or Frankfurt. I am surprised that the employee unions have allowed Lufthansa to infest its main hub with this low-cost operator that surely will get quite a few routes from the leading group brand.

Lufthansa’s Swiss brand already has its long-haul airline called Edelweiss, which planes you often see at leisure destinations, most recently in Phuket and Cape Town.