Eurowings Discover: The fast growth of Lufthansa’s youngest carrier
Having launched in July 2021, Eurowings Discover is expanding fast. With 11 aircraft, it’ll have 69 routes next summer from Frankfurt and Munich, the only German airports it serves, including a steadily growing list of long-haul services.
Eurowings Discover is the leisure or vacation airline of the Lufthansa Group. It came about because Lufthansa itself does not have the right platform – in terms of costs and product – to target tourists properly. Lufthansa has a high cost base and requires sufficiently high fares to offset it.
You’d be forgiven for thinking Eurowings Discover and Eurowings are pretty closely related, but they both have different air operator certificates and IATA codes (4Y and EW, respectively). While Discover focuses exclusively on Frankfurt and Munich, Eurowings has only a minimal network from the two airports. Discover has much more in common with Condor, the leisure carrier previously owned by Lufthansa.
The leisure carrier has 11 aircraft, including eight A330s. All of its A330-200s were previously with SunExpress Deutschland and its A320s with Lufthansa. Some of its larger A330-300s were last used by Edelweiss and others by Eurowings. According to ch-aviation.com, its A330-200s average 17.2 years, its A330-300s 14.9, and its A320s a mere 5.6 years.
In summer 2022, Eurowings Discover will serve 44 destinations from Frankfurt and 25 from Munich, Cirium data shows. Some 22 long-haul routes will operate, with 20 from Frankfurt and two from Munich. Of particular note are Anchorage, Calgary, Fort Myers, Halifax, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, Tampa, Windhoek, and Victoria Falls.
The long link from Frankfurt to Salt Lake City, some 5,128 miles (8,367km) away, stands out. It’ll be the first time the route has had regular service, with three weekly flights beginning May 23rd.
Eurowings Discover will replace Lufthansa to Calgary (last operated 2009-2012), Panama City (2016-2020), and Tampa (2015-2020). It’ll also replace Eurowings to Las Vegas (2019-2020), Windhoek (see below), and others.
It’s perhaps surprising that Frankfurt to the Namibian capital of Windhoek is Eurowings Discover’s leading route by flights next summer. Multiple carriers have operated it over the years, including Condor (2014-2019) and Air Namibia (until 2020).
Eurowings started it in 2019 and was replaced by Lufthansa in June 2021, only to be replaced two months later by Eurowings Discover. Expect more route replacements and network realignments in the future as both Lufthansa and the new leisure airline focus on their relative strengths.
