USDOT gives Lufthansa Airlines permission to offer codeshare flights with Thai Airways on US flights

Summary

The US Department of Transportation (DOT) has approved Lufthansa’s request to add Thai Airways’ flight code TG to its flights to/from the USA.
Initially, the German airline had applied to offer THAI’s flight codes on flights to Boston Logan International Airport (BOS).
THAI does not ship directly to the USA.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has authorized Lufthansa to add Thai Airways (THAI) flight code TG to its flights to/from the United States.

THAI expands capacity in the USA

The U.S. Department of Transportation approved the codeshare flights to the United States on August 9 and published the documents on August 13.

In the filing, the DOT explained that Lufthansa could add THAI’s flight code to its flights from the European Union (EU) to any destination in the United States.

In addition, the German airline can display the Thai airline’s connections between all points in the USA as well as all points in the member countries of the Common European Aviation Area (ECAA).

According to the EU, the ECAA includes Norway and Iceland, as well as Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo.

The US government agency approved the use of THAI’s Flight code for the carriage of passengers, cargo and mail, which depended on the codeshare agreement between the two airlines.

Lufthansa Airbus A380 lands at SFO shutterstock_1666683979

Despite losses at Lufthansa Airlines, Lufthansa Group achieves EBIT of 743 million US dollars in the first half of the year

The group pointed out that its flagship airline Lufthansa had a particularly difficult six months in 2024.

First flights to/from Boston

The DOTs The approval was granted subject to several conditions, including that it remain valid as long as both airlines are authorized to operate the codeshare services and the agreement remains active.

Another condition was that both or either of the airlines had to notify the Department if the codeshare agreement was no longer valid, with a requirement to notify the DOT within ten days.

Lufthansa Airbus A380 D-AIMK departing FRA shutterstock_2446491271

Photo: CATCH01 | Shutterstock

In addition, Lufthansa and THAI must notify the US Department of Transportation 30 days before starting new routes or frequencies. In addition, the services must comply with all agreements between the USA and the other countries concerned.

Lufthansa submitted its application for general approval to display THAI flight codes in its flight schedules on July 26.

The application detailed that the German airline used the flight code TG on flights from Frankfurt Airport (FRA) and Munich Airport (MUC) to Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) .

“Lufthansa requests a waiver of the 45-day advance notification requirement (…). Lufthansa plans to display the TG* code on flights operated by Lufthansa immediately after receiving approvals from the Ministry and other relevant authorities. For this reason, Lufthansa requests an accelerated approval of this application.”

A Lufthansa Airbus A340-600 flies in the sky.

Lufthansa Airbus A340 returns to Boston after bird strike

As the aircraft climbed to over 10,000 feet, the pilot reported a bird strike with strong vibrations in one of the Airbus A340’s engines.

Star Alliance connection

According to data from aviation analytics firm Cirium, THAI will not offer scheduled flights to airports in the United States between January 2024 and July 2025.

The last time THAI served the USA directly was in October 2015. At that time, the airline had a fifth freedom flight from Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) via Seoul Incheon International Airport (ICN), operating under TG692.

Lufthansa aircraft in front of the gates at Frankfurt Airport FRA shutterstock_2338926045

Photo: Jokue photography | Shutterstock

However, THAI has planned 21 weekly flights to Germany between August and December.

14 of these weekly flights go from BKK to FRA, while seven go from BKK to MUC.

Lufthansa now has an extensive flight network from FRA to MUC (excluding its holiday airline Discover Airlines). In August, the German airline will offer scheduled flights to 20 US destinations, including several Star Alliance hubs.

Both Lufthansa and THAI are part of the alliance. Together with Air Canada, SAS and THAI, the five airlines were founding members of the Star Alliance.