Lufthansa to launch Falkland Islands flights ‘after asking Argentina’s permission’ | World | News

Lufthansa has announced plans to fly to the Falkland Islands next year, which could provoke a backlash from Argentina.

The German company said it would operate a unique flight on March 10 2025, using an Airbus A350-900.

The flight is scheduled to leave from Munich at 7.20am and return from the RAF base on the Falklands two days later, departing at 7pm local time.

This will be the second time Lufthansa has flown to the British Overseas Territory, over which Buenos Aires claims sovereignty.

In 2021, a plane carrying scientists from the Alfred Wegener Institute and crew members for the Polastern expedition flew from Hamburg to the Falklands.

At the time, the flight provoked an angry response from Argentina, who claimed Lufthansa had not informed it of its intentions.

The airline company was forced to formally request overflight and landing at Argentina’s National Civil Aviation Administration and the province of Tierra del Fuego, Antarctica, and the South Atlantic Islands.

The Falklands are connected to the continent through a weekly LATAM flight from Santiago de Chile via Punta Arenas.

The plane also stops monthly in the Argentine city of Río Gallegos.

Before the Covid pandemic, LATAM had also inaugurated a service connecting the Falklands with Sao Paulo/Guarulhos in Brazil, with a monthly stopover in Córdoba.

The flight could be revived after positive talks between the UK’s Foreign Minister David Lammy and his Argentine counterpart Diana Mondino in New York last month.

The two countries announced a pact that will see flights resumed on the islands, renewed negotiations on a humanitarian project plan, and plans for trips to allow relatives of fallen Falkland soldiers to visit their graves.

Although Argentina’s Vice President Victoria Villarruel criticised the agreement, the Falkland Islands government defended it.

Roger Spink, Member of the Legislative Assembly for the Stanley constituency, told the Daily Express: “This agreement came after long discussions between the governments of the United Kingdom and Argentina – with the Falkland Islands Legislative Assembly heavily involved throughout.

“All parties stand to gain from this cooperation. The humanitarian project to identify Argentine war dead in the Falklands offers an opportunity for closure for the families who lost loved ones.

“Sharing fisheries data enhances resource management in the South Atlantic, which benefits everyone in the region.

“The resumption of the São Paulo to Mount Pleasant flight offers substantial economic benefits.”