Commencing summer 2009, Lufthansa will offer UK passengers flying from London a new, non-stop service to Milan Malpensa. At the same time, new non-stop flights will be introduced from Lisbon to Milan, with both new services following on from the earlier introduction in February 2009 of the first non-stop flights to operate from Barcelona, Brussels, Budapest, Bucharest and Paris to Milan.

The introduction of the new flights is part of Lufthansa’s strategy to further expand its network to and from the northern Italian airport as well as its overall offer of point-to-point connections within Europe. “With the introduction of our new flights to Milan, we will be able to offer our UK customers a convenient, non-stop service with the usual high Lufthansa quality,” said Marianne Sammann, Lufthansa’s General Manager UK & Ireland. Milan Malpensa’s catchment area extends as far as the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland and is one of the key economic regions in Europe.

Next year, Lufthansa will base six Airbus A319s in Italy rather than the Embraer 195s originally planned. The A319s will be operated by Lufthansa’s Italian subsidiary, Air Dolomiti.

“Lufthansa is very well positioned in Italy with a strong customer base. Our new services to Italy not only offer familiar Lufthansa values such as reliability and top quality, but also combine these with Italian flair on board,” said Karl Ulrich Garnadt, Executive Vice President, Lufthansa Passenger Airlines.

The new flights to Milan can be booked from mid-October this year via lufthansa.com.