I used to live in Munich, Germany, for several years and I always wondered: Why is it easier to get from Munich to Toronto or Beijing than to New York City? Back in 2006, there was only one daily nonstop service from Bavaria's capital to the Big Apple. Luckily, Lufthansa has introduced another daily service to Newark since then. Still, Lufthansa owned the route. After joining Star Alliance last October, Continental Airlines announced it would start daily service from Munich to Newark on March 27 and the service, on a 767-200, was indeed inaugurated yesterday. So why are there suddenly so many nonstop flights to NYC? Well, you need to know that Lufthansa is very powerful in Munich and more or less "blocked" all other airlines from flying to New York. Since Lufthansa pretty much paid for Munich Airport's Terminal 2 and is its main driver of growth, it has had a lot of power over who flies in and out of Munich. Now that Lufthansa and Continental are, well, "friends" and members of the same alliance, it apparently agreed to let this third daily nonstop service happen. Good for Munich, good for Continental and good for Lufthansa!To read Continental's press release, please click here.
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