Getting to Japan from Europe is about to get easier. Lufthansa Group has announced a big capacity push for the summer 2027 season, with its airlines — Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian and ITA Airways — set to operate up to 50 flights per week to Japan across four destinations: Tokyo-Haneda, Tokyo-Narita, Osaka and Nagoya.
The headline news for many travellers is the return of Frankfurt–Nagoya. Lufthansa dropped the route years ago, and from 29 March 2027 it will run three times a week (Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays). Flights leave Frankfurt at 2:10 pm and land in Nagoya at 9:35 am the next day; the return departs 11:30 am and reaches Frankfurt at 6:30 pm. Nagoya itself is Japan's automotive and manufacturing heartland, but it's also a smart entry point for visitors — it sits within easy reach of Kyoto and other central Japan highlights, often with cheaper fares and smaller crowds than Tokyo or Osaka.
Tokyo gets a boost too. From 28 March 2027, Lufthansa adds a daily seasonal Frankfurt–Tokyo-Narita service (departing 1:45 pm, arriving 9:30 am next day), on top of its existing daily flights to Haneda from both Frankfurt and Munich. SWISS will push its Zurich–Tokyo-Narita route up to seven weekly flights.
Both new routes — Nagoya and Narita — will use Boeing 787-9s fitted with Lufthansa's newer Allegris cabins: 28 Business Class seats, 28 Premium Economy and 231 Economy. That matters if you're booking long-haul, as Allegris is a genuine step up from Lufthansa's older interiors, particularly in Business.
For context, the group operated roughly 39 Europe–Japan flights in a week in autumn 2026, so 50 weekly flights is a meaningful jump. There's also a practical knock-on: Lufthansa's joint venture with ANA means you can connect onward across Japan and beyond on a single ticket. Everything in the summer 2027 schedule is already bookable.
Why it matters: more frequency means more fare competition, better award availability and easier positioning from regional European cities via Frankfurt, Munich, Zurich or Vienna. And Nagoya's return gives travellers a genuinely useful alternative gateway into central Japan — Chubu airport is quiet, efficient and under an hour from the city, with the shinkansen whisking you to Kyoto in around 35 minutes. If you've been putting off a Japan trip because of fares or availability, summer 2027 is looking like a good window.
