Germany’s EW Discover secures AOC, details launch network

EW Discover (4Y, Frankfurt Int’l) will begin commercial flight operations on July 24 with Frankfurt Int’l to Zanzibar via Mombasa its inaugural route. Parent Lufthansa Group said in a statement that its newest airline has successfully secured its operating licence and air operator’s certificate from the German air transport regulator (Luftfahrt-Bundesamt), paving the way for its debut. “The timing could not be better. People can finally travel again, and we are all set to fly them to the world’s most beautiful destinations,” Wolfgang Raebiger, CEO of Eurowings Discover, said. “We have built an airline in just one year – an ambitious goal that we have achieved with the great support from the entire Lufthansa Group, a motivated team and in close cooperation with the Luftfahrt-Bundesamt. We wish to express our sincere gratitude to everyone.” Aside from its 2x weekly East African service, EW Discover will offer 3x weekly flights to Punta Cana, in the Dominican Republic, in August, at which time a 5x weekly flight to Windhoek Int’l, Namibia, will start. In October, the airline will also offer 3x weekly flights to each of Las Vegas McCarran and Mauritius. Then, during the 2021 winter season, it will offer 3x weekly flights to each of Bridgetown (Barbados), Montego Bay (Jamaica), and Varadero (Cuba). From November, it will then start to offer short- and medium-haul flights to the Canary Islands, Egypt, and Morocco. From mid-July until the start of long-haul operations at the end of that month, Eurowings Discover plans to operate select continental European flights as a wet lease for Air Dolomiti (EN, Verona) to gradually ramp up operations and ensure a smooth start to its intercontinental routes. For 2021, EW Discover will operate a maximum of 11 aircraft growing to 21 by the middle of next year (ten A320s and eleven A330s). The start-up will draw all aircraft from the Lufthansa Group fleet pool.