25/06/2025
✈️ Lufthansa Holding Back Expansion in Gulf
Lufthansa Group has decided to pause increasing seat capacity to the Arabian Gulf—including the UAE—for at least the next 12 months. They cited a current overcapacity issue, largely due to aggressive expansion and state-backed competition from Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar Airways
timesaerospace.aero
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gulfnews.com
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khaleejtimes.com
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Highlights:
Suspended expansion; current services maintained to Frankfurt and Zurich via Lufthansa and SWISS.
Eurowings may explore new routes, including leisure destinations like Salalah
arnnewscentre.ae
gulfnews.com
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khaleejtimes.com
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🎉 45 Years of Service
Lufthansa is celebrating 45 years of operations in Dubai and the wider UAE market
timesaerospace.aero
Takeaways:
Special fares up to 45% off for flights from Dubai to Europe and North America.
Regular flights were quickly reinstated post-pandemic; now offering daily flights.
Acknowledged UAE's growth—with this milestone coinciding with the UAE’s Golden Jubilee.
📈 Strong Post-Pandemic Recovery
Over the years—from 2019 to today—Lufthansa has steadily grown capacity in the UAE. Before the pandemic, in 2018 they transported 345,000 passengers to/from the UAE, marking a 3% increase from 2017
timesaerospace.aero
gulfnews.com
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arabianbusiness.com
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travel.economictimes.indiatimes.com
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khaleejtimes.com
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arabianbusiness.com
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timesaerospace.aero
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They also increased post-pandemic services—for instance, boosting Frankfurt–Dubai flights by around 30% in September 2020
gulfnews.com
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gulfnews.com
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arnnewscentre.ae
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What It Means:
Lufthansa views the UAE as a strategic market, but is currently strategizing expansions carefully due to oversupply.
They continue to ramp up network and capacity slowly, celebrating key anniversaries with promotional offers.
Competitive positioning driven by state-backed Middle Eastern carriers remains a challenge.