Lufthansa is going big on Japan. The German carrier has confirmed two route comebacks that will take its German-to-Japan network to five distinct routes by summer 2027 — the kind of expansion that gives travellers far more choice in aircraft, airport and schedule when flying Europe to Japan.

First up: Tokyo Narita. From March 28, 2027 — the start of the northern summer schedule — Lufthansa will fly daily from Frankfurt to NRT on the Boeing 787-9, marking the first time a Boeing aircraft has been used by the airline on a Japan route. It's a notable about-turn: Lufthansa pulled out of Narita in January 2017 after decades of service, consolidating at Haneda, which sits much closer to central Tokyo. With Narita back in the mix, the airline will serve Tokyo through three routes — its most in a decade. Times are practical for both ends: out of Frankfurt at 1:45 PM, landing 9:30 AM the next day, with the return leaving Narita at 11:20 AM.

Narita isn't being revived in isolation. United is restarting Chicago-Narita flights, Air New Zealand arrives from Christchurch in November, SWISS is adding capacity, and Finnair, Delta (from Seattle) and American (from Chicago) are all growing there too. Narita is quietly becoming a long-haul hub again.

The second comeback is Nagoya. Lufthansa dropped Chubu Centrair International (NGO) in March 2020 when the pandemic hit, and from March 29, 2027 it returns three times a week — Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays outbound — again on the 787-9. That's a switch too: between 2004 and 2020 the route was flown exclusively with Airbus A340s, aircraft now largely retired from front-line service. Lufthansa will be only the second European airline at Nagoya, joining Finnair.

Put it together and by July 2027 Lufthansa plans 31 weekly departures to Japan: Frankfurt-Haneda on the 747-8, Frankfurt-Narita and Frankfurt-Nagoya on the 787-9, plus Munich-Haneda and Munich-Osaka Kansai on the A350-900. That's four to five daily flights, more than double the 15 weekly departures of July 2019. Japan will become the airline's fourth-biggest long-haul market from Germany, overtaking China — remarkable given that flights still have to detour around Russian airspace, adding time and fuel on every rotation.

For travellers, the upside is real. If Haneda's slots and prices don't suit, Narita and its often-cheaper onward connections are back on the table from Frankfurt. Nagoya's return is a win for anyone heading to central Japan without backtracking through Tokyo or Osaka. And the 787-9s mean newer cabins than the A340s these routes once used — expect the latest Allegris-style interiors rather than decade-old seats.