The Challenge
The rapidly growing Columbus area is home to 38 German companies yet has no nonstop flights to Europe. Executives, business teams, and investors traveling between Columbus and Germany had to connect elsewhere.
Central Ohio businesses have been asking for direct flights to Germany for years. During a 2019 statewide listening tour, business leaders told JobsOhio that air service at Ohio airports had declined more sharply than in competitor states, and that more flights were essential to expanding in, relocating to, or staying in Ohio.
The Solution
Lufthansa stepped in to fill the void. Europe’s largest airline group by revenue will launch Central Ohio’s first nonstop flight to Europe in May 2027, connecting John Glenn Columbus International Airport with its hub in Frankfurt, Germany. The route will be Ohio’s first and only nonstop flight to Germany, with service three times a week on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays, leaving Columbus in the afternoon and arriving in Frankfurt the next morning. Through Frankfurt, travelers from Central Ohio can reach more than 130 destinations across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and India.
The route builds on JobsOhio’s Air Service Restoration program, created after that listening tour, in which JobsOhio and regional partners share revenue guarantees that reduce the risk for airlines launching new service.
Key Factors in Choosing Ohio Included:
Hundreds of daily passengers from Columbus and across Ohio already traveling to Europe
A base of 38 German-based companies in the Columbus Region and more than 750 German-owned business establishments statewide
Major new investment in the region, including Bayer’s pharmaceutical plant in New Albany, Anduril, and Intel
Lufthansa’s continued expansion in the United States
The Results
Economic Impact: For Ohio, the route gives a fast-growing region a direct line to one of Europe’s major business hubs. German companies already support about 41,000 jobs across the state, and a nonstop flight makes it easier for their teams, and for international visitors, investors, and talent, to reach Central Ohio. Bayer, which announced the same month as Lufthansa that it’s building a new pharmaceutical plant in New Albany, calls close collaboration with its colleagues in Germany essential.
Strategic Advantage: For Lufthansa, the route adds a Midwest market that leads the region in job creation to a U.S. network the company is continuing to expand, with the risk of launching a new transatlantic route shared by JobsOhio and regional partners.
“We are very pleased to connect Columbus and the state of Ohio directly with our Frankfurt hub, the first intercontinental flight from this great city. The new service will provide both business and leisure travelers with a convenient nonstop connection to Germany, as well as onward destinations across our Lufthansa Group network. The launch of this route is an important step in our continued expansion in the United States, our most important market outside the Lufthansa Group’s home markets. We look forward to strengthening the connections between Ohio and Europe, and to welcoming travelers from Columbus and the surrounding region.”
— Dirk Janzen, Vice President, Passenger Sales, the Americas, Lufthansa Group
