Lufthansa connecting South Africa to the World for 60 years

It was an important day to look back at 60 years of connecting South Africa to Europe, staying committed to the African continent, contributing to the successful development of the country and facilitating easy and comfortable reach for people worldwide.

“Since the inception of our very first flight to South Africa on 14 May 1962, Lufthansa has been at the forefront of building trade relations between Germany and South Africa, while remaining true to our vision of connecting people and cultures from all over the world. Even throughout the global Covid-19 pandemic, our vision of maintaining an important ‘lifeline connection’ to South Africa was met, when we were able to successfully continue our repatriation flight programme between South Africa and Germany”, says Andre Schulz, general manager of Southern and East Africa Lufthansa Group.

“Our customers and employees are the key to our successful development in South Africa, and we look back at this moment in history with great pride and we celebrate with you by saying ‘Thank You’ for the last 60 years of flying to South Africa together,” adds Schulz.

“60 years of Lufthansa in South Africa — this is an incredible success story. It is difficult to imagine the close economic and cultural partnership between our countries without Lufthansa’s excellent services. So many people, over so many years, have relied on your outstanding quality and reliability. Congratulations and all the best for the years to come!” says Andreas Peschke, German ambassador to South Africa.

Lufthansa would like to celebrate its big anniversary with its customers in South Africa offering reduced special fares. Available until 31 May 2022, a return flight with Lufthansa in Economy Class from South Africa to Europe is bookable on www.lufthansa.com for an all-inclusive price starting from R6 650.

Welcoming its passengers in Johannesburg, Cape Town and soon Kruger National Park, all four Lufthansa Group carriers (Lufthansa, SWISS, Eurowings Discover and Edelweiss) offer in total a maximum of 29 departures every week to three destinations in Western Europe. Every week, the leading European airline group thus offers every week more than 8 000 seats on long-haul flights from South Africa, giving customers the biggest choice in its 60-year history in the country.

On 14 May 1962, Lufthansa’s inaugural flight to South Africa departed Germany, making that time a series of intermediary steps in Africa using the Boeing 720B, the industry’s best long-haul aircraft at the time. This service offered two weekly flights between Johannesburg and Frankfurt, with four fuel stops in Salisbury (Harare), Nairobi, Khartoum and Athens, which took 16 hours to complete.

Lufthansa integrated option for carbon-neutral flying into booking

Today the Lufthansa Group is making effective climate protection a major goal with a clearly defined path toward carbon-neutrality. Compared to 2019, Lufthansa Group plans to half its net-carbon emissions by 2030, and by 2050, achieve net-zero carbon emissions. This will be done by accelerating fleet modernization, continually optimizing flight operations, using SAF, and applying innovative technologies that make passenger and cargo flights more carbon neutral.

The latest sustainable news: Lufthansa customers can now easily minimise the carbon emissions of their flights with a single click within the booking process. After selecting the flights, they can further choose one of three options to fly CO2-neutral: the first option is to use sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) that is currently produced from residual biogenic materials as it reduces CO2 emissions directly.

A second option is to use high-quality carbon offset projects run by the non-profit organization “myclimate” in Germany and other countries worldwide. The third option is a combination of the first two options. The payment for these options can now be made at the same time when booking the ticket, thus making CO2-neutral flying for passengers significantly easier. The same options are also available to corporate customers and travel partners as part of the respective programmes. These options will become even more attractive by awarding additional status and award miles.