ITA Airways to return to LHR, Lufthansa to slash feeder network
ITA Airways last flew to London Heathrow Airport (LHR) in March 2024.
Lufthansa Group has unveiled its summer 2026 schedule, with some of the main highlights being that ITA Airways is plotting a return to London Heathrow Airport (LHR), while Lufthansa, the airline, is aiming to slash more than 50 frequencies on its feeder services, including domestic flights, due to the high costs of operating flights from/to Germany.
On October 28, Lufthansa Group highlighted the key developments to the group’s airlines’ networks during the upcoming summer 2026 season, which will begin on March 29, 2026.
One of the main highlights is ITA Airways’ planned return to LHR, an airport that it abandoned in late March 2024, Cirium’s Diio Mi showed. The Italian carrier should operate twice-daily connections from Rome Fiumicino Airport (FCO) to the British capital, compared to its previous schedule of daily departures from FCO to LHR and double-daily flights from Milan Linate Airport (LIN) to LHR.
While it currently has no services from/to LHR, it still flies to London’s other airport, City Airport (LCY). Per Cirium’s Diio Mi, ITA Airways has scheduled 29 weekly flights between LIN and LCY, and 12 between FCO and LCY in October. The airline’s flights to LCY are operated with the Airbus A220-100.
Data from Airport Coordination Limited (ACL), an independent body that oversees slots at several airports across the globe, including LHR, showed that ITA Airways wanted to acquire 616 slots for the winter 2025/2026 season, which began on October 26, yet received none.
The Italian airline also requested 2,519 slots for the summer 2025 season, but once again, left the slot allocation process empty-handed. ACL’s records also indicated that ITA Airways had leased slots at the airport from Etihad Airways, but those slots were returned to the Emirati carrier.
It remains to be seen from where ITA Airways will source landing rights to return to LHR. According to ACL, several Lufthansa Group airlines hold historic summer season slots at the airport: Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Eurowings, Lufthansa, and Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS).
Speaking of Lufthansa, the German airline will ax “more than 50 frequencies” on feeder routes starting with the summer 2026 season, with the group citing “the high cost burden for flights to and from Germany.”
The statement read that the cuts will affect flights between Munich Airport (MUC) and Cologne Bonn Airport (CGN), Düsseldorf Airport (DUS) and Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER), between Frankfurt Airport (FRA) and Leipzig/Halle Airport (LEJ), or between FRA and Nuremberg Airport (NUF).
Cirium’s Diio Mi showed that, between April 2026 and September 2026, Lufthansa, Lufthansa City Airlines, and Lufthansa Cityline, with the latter two operating some of the main carrier’s short-haul routes, will at least end flying between MUC and Paderborn Lippstadt Airport (PAD).
On flights between MUC and CGN, the airlines will focus on flying smaller aircraft, such as the A319ceo and Mitsubishi (née Bombardier) CRJ900, moving their A320 or A321s, including the A320neo, which were present on the route during the summer 2025 season, to other itineraries.
However, schedules can still change, and the cuts might become more visible when Lufthansa Group and its airlines upload the latest frequency changes to their systems in due time.
In terms of changes to the group’s long-haul network, Lufthansa will increase the number of flights from FRA to Cape Town International Airport (CPT), Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO), Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU), Rio De Janeiro Galeão International Airport (GIG), St. Louis Lambert International Airport (STL), and Washington Dulles Airport (IAD).
From MUC, Lufthansa will continue flying to São Paulo/Guarulhos International Airport (GRU) and Johannesburg O.R. Tambo International Airport (JNB) during the summer season, with the two routes having been added during this winter 2025/2026 season.
Brussels Airlines will launch flights from Brussels Airport (BRU) to Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRU), continuing to position itself as the group’s pan-African airline, Edelweiss will begin flying from Zurich Airport (ZRH) to Windhoek Hosea Kutako International Airport (WDH), while also adding or extending flights to six other long-haul destinations, and Discover Airlines will continue flying from FRA to Seychelles International Airport (SEZ). The route was initially planned to be winter-only, the group said, noting that Discover Airlines will also add one additional weekly flight from FRA to Las Vegas Harry Reid International Airport (LAS).
SWISS is also adding two extra weekly flights from ZRH to Tokyo Narita International Airport (NRT) in April, May, and October 2026, sticking to the five-per-week schedule during the remainder of the summer 2026 season.
Rytis Beresnevicius
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