Lufthansa flying its Boeing 747, Airbus A350 on select intra-Europe routes

Here's something you don't see often: Lufthansa plans to fly its Boeing 747-8 and Airbus A350 wide-body aircraft on two short-haul routes this summer.

As reported by Paddle Your Own Kanoo, the German airline's 364-seat 747-8 will fly between Frankfurt (FRA) and Mallorca (PMI) on four Saturdays between mid-July and early August, which are typically peak times for European leisure travel.

We rarely see planes this large fly intra-Europe. This route is typically operated by an A320, so the upgrade signals a surge in demand for European leisure travel this summer as lockdown measures loosen and borders reopen.

The plane is equipped with four cabins: economy, premium economy, business and first class. That said, you can expect to receive standard intra-Europe service in both economy and business.

You can also select some premium economy seats without paying an extra fee. That said, I was not able to select a first-class seat on a business class booking. These may be saved for Lufthansa HON Circle elites.

Further, Lufthansa is also flying its newest plane — its Airbus A350-900 — from Munich (MUC) to Mallorca as a one-off service on July 31. This represents a huge upgrade from the A320 that normally operates this route. This A350 is equipped with proper international business class and premium economy seats, so it's sure to provide a more comfortable ride.

Related: 6 tips for booking Lufthansa first-class awards

Pricing and award space

Most flights on the Frankfurt to Mallorca route start at around $225 one-way on the 747-operated flight in economy class this summer. The cheapest business class ticket I found on this route was $381 one-way, which may be worthwhile if you're based in Europe and want to sample Lufthansa's lie-flat business class.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find saver award space on this route.

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Bottom line

It's really cool to see Lufthansa bring two of its best airplanes to intra-Europe routes this summer. To me, it's a sign that European travel demand is picking back up as the coronavirus pandemic subsides around the region.

If you're an AV geek flying from the U.S. or U.K. to Mallorca this summer, you may want to route your flights through Frankfurt or Munich. This is a special opportunity to fly the Queen of The Skies on a very nontraditional route.

Feature photo by Lukas Wunderlich/Shutterstock