How Munich matters: Lufthansa’s southern hub

On April 6th, 2026, Lufthansa operated two special flights to commemorate its 100th anniversary, which were numbered LH1926 and LH2026. Flight LH1926 was operated by the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner with registration D-ABPU on the Berlin-Zurich route, while flight LH2026 was conducted on the Airbus A350 registered D-AIXL, in this case on the Berlin-Cologne service.

Over the next 100 years, several changes took place in Lufthansa’s history. The airline abandoned its hub in the German capital and moved its main operations to Frankfurt, although it also developed an important international network in Munich, which became the hub chosen for its Airbus A380s.

Within Europe, Lufthansa operates flights from Flughafen München Franz Josef Strauß, Munich International Airport as it is known in English, to Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, France, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom.

Almost all of these flights are operated using narrow-body aircraft, including the Airbus A319, Airbus A320, Airbus A321, CRJ-900, and Embraer 195. In addition, as you can see in our database, Lufthansa currently offers 12 weekly flights between Frankfurt and Munich on Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft, making it the world’s shortest regular route performed by the 787 and one of the few within Europe using wide-body aircraft.

Daily except Tuesday

Daily except Tuesday

As for its network outside Europe, Frankfurt serves as its main hub, offering more flights to Africa, the Americas, and Asia than Munich, from where it also operates routes to these three continents. One of the main differences between the two hubs is the aircraft used for their intercontinental services, with Munich operating the Airbus A380-800 and Frankfurt the Boeing 747-8i.

The German airline has 12 Boeing 747-8i aircraft in its fleet, having added the first one in April 2012. These aircraft feature four different liveries, including the previous livery, the new livery, the retro livery, and the 100th-anniversary livery.

All of its Boeing 747-8s are based at Frankfurt Airport, serving Buenos Aires, Chicago, Johannesburg, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Miami, San Francisco, Tokyo Haneda, and Washington.

In addition to the Boeing 747-8s, Lufthansa bases its Boeing 747-400(ER) and Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft in Frankfurt for its intercontinental network; it currently has eight and fifteen of these aircraft in its fleet, respectively.

On May 19th, 2010, the Airbus A380-841 with serial number 038 landed at Frankfurt Airport brand new from the factory, marking the delivery of the first A380 to Lufthansa. The aircraft received the German registration D-AIMA and a configuration for 509 passengers in four classes, with 8 seats in First, 78 in Business, 52 in Premium Economy, and 371 in Economy.

Lufthansa’s subsequent 13 Airbus A380s had the same seating configuration, bearing the registration numbers D-AIMB through D-AIMN. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all the aircraft were taken out of service in March 2020, but in June 2022 it was announced that the SuperJumbos would be returning.

Eight Airbus A380-800s resumed operations as of Summer 2023, with Munich Airport serving as their base. The other six A380s, registered as D-AIMD, D-AIME, D-AIMF, D-AIMG, D-AIMI, and D-AIMJ, remain in Teruel (Spain), with the exception of D-AIMI, which is parked in Lourdes (France).

The intercontinental network operated by Lufthansa from Munich consists of two aircraft types, the Airbus A350-900 and the Airbus A380-800. As for its A350s, the airline has 31 aircraft in its fleet, including one featuring special centennial livery, and plans to introduce the longer variant of the Airbus A350, the Airbus A350-1000, in the near future. D-AIFA and D-AIFB will be its first two registration numbers. 

All of its Airbus A380-800s are based at Munich Airport, with the following aircraft currently in service: D-AIMA, D-AIMB, D-AIMC, D-AIMH, D-AIMK, D-AIML, D-AIMM, and D-AIMN. Due to maintenance, not all of them may be flying at the same time, as is currently the case with the D-AIMC and D-AIML.

Lufthansa flies from Munich to Brazil, Canada, China, Egypt, India, Japan, Mexico, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia, and the United States, in terms of markets outside Europe. Its routes to the Americas and Asia are operated by wide-body aircraft, while some routes to Africa are served by narrow-body aircraft.

India and the United States are the current markets served by the Airbus A380-800, with the United States being the main market based on the number of weekly flights and routes. During the European winter season, as can be seen in our database, Lufthansa serves the Munich-Bangkok route with the Airbus A380, replacing the A350.

At the time of publication, Lufthansa is operating its first and only flight between Munich and Tokyo Narita using an Airbus A380. This is a charter flight, as the German airline does not offer this service on a regular basis and does not operate at Narita Airport in the Japanese capital, at least not with passenger flights.

Boston

Daily

Delhi

Daily

Los Angeles

Daily

San Francisco

Tuesday, Friday, and Sunday

Washington D.C.

Daily

According to our database, the Munich-Tokyo Narita-Munich charter flight, under flight number LH2572/2573, will depart from Germany on April 14th and from Japan on April 15th.

Munich – Tokyo – Munich

In addition to operating a daily flight between Munich and Tokyo Haneda, the German carrier offers a daily service on the Frankfurt-Tokyo Haneda route using Boeing 747-8i aircraft.

Cover photo: © Florian Leclaire – JetPhotos (Munich, Germany)