Airlines Lufthansa Group introduces the new fare concept for long-haul flights

The airline group has announced to expand its economy light concept, currently only available in its European network, to all North American routes. As a basic rate, the new fare is created for price-conscious passengers and doesn’t include carry-on luggage or any ticket flexibility. For an additional fee, passengers will be allowed to add one piece of luggage or request a seat reservation on an individual basis. Meals and drinks will continue to be served to passengers on board free of charge. 

Lufthansa has been testing a Light fare since October 2017 on selected routes between Scandinavia and North America. Passengers can buy a basic rate with carry-on luggage on flights between Sweden, Denmark, Norway and selected North American destinations.

The new fare will be available on flights from the Lufthansa Group airlines Lufthansa, Swiss, Brussels Airlines and Austrian Airlines. Lufthansa Group is facing heavy competition on transatlantic routes. Upcoming new long-haul carriers like Norwegian Air Shuttle or Iceland’s Wow Air have started offering low-cost service on flights from Europe to the USA. Luggage, meals and drinks are not included in their lowest fare. As most price-conscious passengers book via flight search engines, the new fare enables Lufthansa to offer a competitive price at the same service level compared to its low-cost competitors. It is expected, that other carriers will follow the Lufthansa Group and launch own economy light fares in the next years.

Lufthansa’s own long-haul low cost carrier Eurowings does offer a basic fare without free luggage, food, drinks and seat reservation since it launched long-haul operations in 2015.