And it’s a summer seasonal, beginning May 24. You’ll recall that US Airways wanted to run a second Charlotte-Frankfurt flight this past summer but couldn’t get properly timed landing and takeoff slots in Frankfurt. Well, FRA just opened its fourth runway, which eases that constraint, and allows the second flight to proceed in summer 2012.
Flight times, from Charlotte to Frankfurt:
US704 4:45pm – 7:20am on an Airbus A330-300
US706 8:45pm – 11:20am on an Airbus A330-200
Return flights from Frankfurt to Charlotte:
US707 9:10am – 12:50pm on an Airbus A330-200
US705 12:30pm – 4:10pm on an Airbus A330-300
This gives Charlotte eight flights a day to Europe next summer: the double daily to Frankfurt plus a flight a day on US Airways to London-Gatwick, Paris, Rome, Madrid, and Dublin. Lufthansa flies to Munich as well.
US Airways also flies from Charlotte to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and is excepted to start service to Sao Paulo, Brazil in about a year.
Also, US Airways is replacing their seats in the A330-300, with the new seats being slimmer, thus providing a bit more leg room in economy.
What comes next: Best bet for the next destination to served in Europe is Manchester, England but not before 2013. US Airways gets five more A330-200s in 2013 and three more in 2014, which could allow some extra service if they choose to keep their old Boeing 767-200ERs around.
