Lufthansa Group Announces Summer 2026 Schedule

Lufthansa has unveiled their summer 2026 flying program, which will include over 14,000 weekly connections to 330 destinations in approximately 100 countries, new hub connections, and numerous capacity increases.

The Famous Snow Peak of Kilimanjaro in Tanzania – Courtesy Lufthansa

On Tuesday (October 28, 2025), Lufthansa Group announced their summer 2026 schedule, which includes over 14,000 weekly connections to 330 destinations in around 100 countries via their hubs in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, and Italy.  Next summer, Lufthansa will fly from Frankfurt to St. Louis and Cape Town five times a week, to Rio de Janeiro six times a week, to Raleigh/Durham and Nairobi daily, and to Washington fourteen times a week.  Lufthansa is also adding Trondheim (Norway) to their flight schedule from Frankfurt four times a week for the first time from May 1, 2026.  Other Northern European destinations such as Bergen, Stavanger, and more will also see increased frequencies.

From Munich, the summer season will be extended with two long-haul destinations added in winter 2025/26 to continue.  Sao Paulo, Brazil will be included in the summer flight schedule with three weekly flights, as well as Johannesburg in South Africa.  All destinations will be served with an Airbus A350-900.

Because of the high-cost burden for flights to and from Germany, Lufthansa Airlines will reduce more than 50 frequencies on feeder routes from the 2026 summer flight schedule, for example between Munich and Cologne, Düsseldorf and Berlin, or between Frankfurt and Leipzig or Nuremberg.  Other connections, such as from Munich to Münster/Osnabrück or Dresden, are currently under review.  Additionally, the connections from Frankfurt to Toulouse and from Munich to Tallinn and Oviedo will be discontinued next spring for economic reasons. Tallinn and Oviedo will still be accessible to Lufthansa guests from Frankfurt, and Toulouse via Munich.

Starting March 29, 2026, SWISS will offer flights from Zurich to Poznan for the first time. During July and August, SWISS will also add the Croatian port city of Rijeka to their schedule. Additionally, the carrier is increasing frequencies from Zurich on various European routes, including Alicante, Valencia, Manchester, Montpellier, Tirana, Budapest, and Venice. On long-haul routes, SWISS will offer daily flights to Tokyo in April, May, and October, while during the rest of the season, there will be flights to the Japanese capital will five times weekly.

Austrian Airlines’ 2026 summer flight schedule will focus on destinations in Greece, Spain, and Italy.  Thanks to strong demand last summer, the ‘coolcation’ destinations such as Sylt, Edinburgh, and the Lofoten Islands will be resumed and expanded in 2026.

ITA Airways will return to London Heathrow with the resumption of the Rome Fiumicino–London Heathrow route, which will be operated twice daily.  ITA Airways’ detailed summer schedule will be published at a later date.  Additionally, during the peak summer season, direct flights will be offered from Rome Fiumicino and Milan Linate to popular vacation destinations in Greece, Spain, and the Italian islands, providing summer vacationers with more travel options.

Brussels Airlines will add Kilimanjaro, Tanzania to their route network. It is the Belgian airline’s eighteenth destination in sub-Saharan Africa, and strengthens the carrier’s position as an Africa expert within the Lufthansa Group.  From June 2026, Kilimanjaro will be connected twice a weekly.  Additionally, Brussels Airlines will increase flights to Freetown in Sierra Leone from five to six flights per week and add an additional flight on Thursdays.  In Europe, Brussels Airlines will also increase capacity on existing routes, particularly in Spain, Portugal, and Italy.

Edelweiss will expand their long-haul offering from Zurich in summer 2026.  From June, there will be twice-weekly flights to Windhoek in Namibia. The airline is also increasing the frequency of flights to Seattle, Punta Cana, and Tampa and extending its seasonal flights to Halifax, Cape Town, and Colombo. Edelweiss is thus responding to the growing demand for diverse and attractive holiday destinations.

Discover Airlines will expand their short-haul services and will fly to Shannon, Ireland and Brindisi, Italy for the first time.  Both routes will operate twice weekly from Frankfurt.  The island of Cyprus is also included in Discover Airlines’ flight schedule for the first time.  From the end of March, there will be daily flights from Frankfurt and Munich to the port city of Larnaca.  There will be two flights a day from Frankfurt on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, as well as two flights a day from Munich on Fridays and Sundays.  These routes were previously offered by Lufthansa.  Discover’s long-haul route between Frankfurt and the Seychelles, which was originally only planned for the winter season, will now be offered year-round.  In addition, there will be fifth flight from Frankfurt to Las Vegas on Saturdays. 

Source: Lufthansa Group