Port of Seattle Welcomes Lufthansa to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport

Water Cannon Salute Welcomes New Nonstop Flight from Frankfurt

With a water cannon salute, a children's chorus and a festive atmosphere, the Port of Seattle welcomed Lufthansa's first flight to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport marking new daily international nonstop service between Seattle and Frankfurt, Germany. Lufthansa is the largest carrier of international passengers in the world and Frankfurt is the eighth largest airport in the world.

"We have been courting Lufthansa for many years," said John Creighton, Port of Seattle Commission president. "We are very pleased to make this announcement as part of a united partnership with the Seattle Convention & Visitors Bureau and the State of Washington, who have all worked hard to bring this important new service from Lufthansa."

Lufthansa's service not only will connect Seattle to Germany, but also will allow their passengers to make connections to Europe, Russia, the Middle East, Asia, Africa and India.

Lufthansa's flight service between Seattle and Frankfurt will be a daily service aboard a 221-seat Airbus A330-300 aircraft.

Including upcoming service to China, this is the fourth new airline to debut nonstop service to Sea-Tac in the past 12 months: In 2007, Air France started nonstop service to Paris and AeroMexico started non-stop service to Mexico City. Hainan Air will debut nonstop service to Beijing, China in June. And, Northwest Airlines begins new nonstop service to London in June.

The addition of Lufthansa brings the total number of European service routes at Sea-Tac to six: British Airways to London, Northwest Airlines to Amsterdam and London, SAS to Copenhagen, Air France to Paris, and Lufthansa to Frankfurt. Other international service from Sea-Tac includes six airlines serving Asia, two serving Mexico, and four airlines providing service to Canada.