This coming summer, Germanwings will become one of the largest airlines at Dusseldorf Airport. With the 2014 summer timetable beginning on 30th March, the airline will take over a range of routes from its parent company, Lufthansa, as well as adding new routes. This means there are a total of 31 destinations that will be newly bookable with Germanwings from Thursday 10th October 2013.

Currently, Germanwings is gradually taking over all domestic German and European routes from Lufthansa, with the exception of the two German hubs of Frankfurt and Munich. In order to achieve this, the airline’s fleet – which was founded in 2002 – will be expanded in the coming months from the current 38 aircraft to 87. With the “new Germanwings”, the airline has taken on a mission of revolutionising the European low cost market whilst offering the highest quality airline service in this sector in Europe, including Dusseldorf.

As the first stage of acquiring the new routes at the start of the 2014 summer timetable, customers from Dusseldorf will be flying on Germanwings domestic flights to Dresden, Leipzig and Nuremberg. There will be flights to Dresden and Nuremberg 16 times per week, likewise, 16 times to Leipzig. Germanwings will also be offering European destinations from 30th March next year – Barcelona (12 weekly flights), Bari (1), Basel (12) Bastia/Corsica (1), Bilbao (7), Cagliari/Sardinia (1) Cardiff (1), Catania/Sicily (4) Dublin (4), Dubrovnik (1), Geneva (17), Heraklion (2) Ibiza (2), Izmir (1), Katowice (5), Lamezia Terme (2) Madrid (12), Milan (23) Newquay/Cornwall (1), Olbia/Sardinia (2), Palma de Mallorca (21) Prague (18), Split (3), Stockholm (12), Thessaloniki (4) Venice (7) Warsaw (17) and Zadar/Croatia (1).

In the summer, the airline launched a completely new brand and product concept that allows all guests to enjoy “à la carte” flights. Passengers can put together a package from great value low cost travel without additional services, to a high quality passenger experience with many amenities and extras that fit their personal needs, right down to the smallest detail. Under the umbrella of an integrated economy class, the “new Germanwings” will also offer three plans in Dusseldorf in the future, including different performance and service packages: the top of the range “Best”, which is particularly suited to the needs of business travellers as well as attractive to leisure travellers; “Smart”, which is a tariff that includes additional services that can be individualised; “Basic” as the plain and simple low cost offer.

The best tariff includes the best products currently available for intra-European low cost flights and sets new standards in the industry: a seat is reserved for the customer in one of the three front rows. Sitting there means they can enjoy a very generous seat pitch of 32 inches (81.2 centimetres) and a free seat next to them. Other components of the new best tariff include access to Lufthansa lounges, priority check-in and use of the fast lane at the security checkpoints, extra miles credited with Miles & More, HON Circle miles, a double baggage allowance (twice 23 kg), à la carte catering on board, flexible bookings and the option to cancel the ticket.

The smart tariff of the new Germanwings is the new standard tariff and corresponds to a classic, high quality economy service: for passengers travelling on this tariff, the rows in front of the aircraft are reserved with a pitch of 32 inches (81.2 centimetres), the same generous seat pitch as the best tariff. The smart tariff includes catering in the form of snacks and soft drinks, as well as a 23kg baggage allowance. The lowest rate is the basic tariff, which corresponds to a classic low cost product: if you book it, you don’t receive free catering or a baggage allowance for example, and you can only occupy a seat on the plane from row eleven.