Airlines Eurowings relocates long-haul operations to Düsseldorf

The distance between Cologne/Bonn Airport and Düsseldorf Airport is only around 40 kilometers, but after the end of Air Berlin’s operations in Düsseldorf, Eurowings offered long-haul flights from both airports. Now, Eurowings has confirmed plans to concentrate its long-haul low cost operations in North Rhine-Westphalia’s capital Düsseldorf. All six Airbus A330-200 will be moved from Cologne/Bonn and will offer up to 140 long-haul connections per month. Currently, only one leased Boeing 767-300ER operates flights from Düsseldorf.

“The Düsseldorf airport’s catchment area covers more than 18 million residents, there’s no larger catchment area in the whole of Germany. This means that together with Eurowings, the airport has great potential to develop an attractive long-haul network for customers,” says Oliver Wagner, Eurowings Chief Commercial Officer. “That’s why, at the Düsseldorf location, we’ll not only continue to grow on domestic German and European routes but will also significantly expand our long-haul fleet.” 

Over the next months, Eurowings will operate a fleet of 40 aircraft in Düsseldorf. New long-haul destionations will be in North America and the Caribbean. It seems to be clear that six months after the insolvency of Air Berlin, Eurowings will be the successor in Düsseldorf as the largest carrier.

This decision is a heavy defeat for Cologne/Bonn Airport, which will lose all long-haul operations. Eurowings has commenced operations in Cologne/Bonn in 2015. The carrier states in a press release, that it plans to add three additional Airbus A320 Family aircraft to the short- and medium-haul fleet in Cologne/Bonn.

Beside Düsseldorf, Eurowings plans to open a second long-haul base in Munich. The carrier will operate with three Airbus A330 and offer flights to leisure destinations like Windhoek, Bangkok or Las Vegas.