Deutsche Lufthansa
AG (), commonly shortened to Lufthansa, is the
flag carrier
A flag carrier is a transport company, such as an airline or shipping company, that, being locally registered in a given sovereign state, enjoys preferential rights or privileges accorded by the government for international operations.
Hi ...
of
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. When combined with its subsidiaries, it is the second-
largest airline in Europe in terms of passengers carried. Lufthansa is one of the five founding members of
Star Alliance
Star Alliance is the world's largest global airline alliance. Founded on 14 May 1997, its CEO is Jeffrey Goh and its headquarters is located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. , Star Alliance is the largest of the three global alliances by passenge ...
, the world's largest
airline alliance
An airline alliance is an aviation industry arrangement between two or more airlines agreeing to cooperate on a substantial level. Alliances may provide marketing branding to facilitate travelers making inter-airline codeshare connections within c ...
, formed in 1997.
Besides its own services, and owning subsidiary passenger airlines
Austrian Airlines
Austrian Airlines AG, often shortened to Austrian, is the flag carrier of Austria and a subsidiary of the Lufthansa Group. The airline is headquartered on the grounds of Vienna International Airport in Schwechat where it also maintains its ...
,
Swiss International Air Lines
Swiss International Air Lines AG, colloquially known as SWISS, is the flag carrier of Switzerland, operating scheduled services in Europe and to North America, South America, Africa and Asia. Zurich Airport serves as its sole hub and Geneva ...
,
Brussels Airlines, and
Eurowings
Eurowings GmbH is a German low-cost carrier headquartered in Düsseldorf and a wholly owned subsidiary of the Lufthansa Group. Founded in 1996, it serves a network of domestic and European destinations and formerly also operated some long-hau ...
(referred to in English by Lufthansa as its ''Passenger Airline Group''), Deutsche Lufthansa AG owns several aviation-related companies, such as
Lufthansa Technik
Lufthansa Technik AG ('Lufthansa Engineering', often referred to simply as “LHT”) provides worldwide maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) services for aircraft, engines, and components. It is a subsidiary of the Lufthansa Group.
Headquarte ...
and
LSG Sky Chefs
LSG Group, registered as LSG Lufthansa Service Holding AG, is an Aviation service company that manages multiple brands, including LSG Sky Chefs and Retail inMotion. LSG Group is a subsidiary of Deutsche Lufthansa AG. The company's world headqua ...
, as part of the Lufthansa Group. In total, the group has over 700 aircraft, making it one of the
largest airline fleets in the world.
Lufthansa's
registered office
A registered office is the official address of an incorporated company, association or any other legal entity. Generally it will form part of the public record and is required in most countries where the registered organization or legal entity ...
and
corporate headquarters are in
Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...
.
The main operations base, called Lufthansa Aviation Center, is at Lufthansa's primary hub at
Frankfurt Airport
Frankfurt Airport (; german: link=no, Flughafen Frankfurt Main , also known as ''Rhein-Main-Flughafen'') is a major international airport located in Frankfurt, the fifth-largest city of Germany and one of the world's leading financial centres ...
, and its secondary hub is at
Munich Airport
Munich International Airport- Franz Josef Strauß (german: link=no, Flughafen München) is an international airport serving Munich and Upper Bavaria. It is the second-busiest airport in Germany in terms of passenger traffic after Frankfurt A ...
where a secondary ''Flight Operations Centre'' is maintained.
The company was founded as Luftag in 1953 by staff of the former
Deutsche Luft Hansa
''Deutsche Luft Hansa A.G.'' (from 1933 styled as ''Deutsche Lufthansa'' and also known as ''Luft Hansa'', ''Lufthansa'', or DLH) was a German airline, serving as flag carrier of the country during the later years of the Weimar Republic and t ...
that had been politically connected to the
government of Nazi Germany and dissolved after World War II. Luftag continued the traditional branding of the German flag carrier by acquiring the Luft Hansa name and logo.
History
1950s: Post-war (re-)formation
![Convair 340-61 D-ACAD Lufthansa LAP 03](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/15/Convair_340-61_D-ACAD_Lufthansa_LAP_03.09.55_edited-2.jpg)
Lufthansa traces its history to 1926 when
Deutsche Luft Hansa
''Deutsche Luft Hansa A.G.'' (from 1933 styled as ''Deutsche Lufthansa'' and also known as ''Luft Hansa'', ''Lufthansa'', or DLH) was a German airline, serving as flag carrier of the country during the later years of the Weimar Republic and t ...
A.G. (styled as ''Deutsche Lufthansa'' from 1933 onwards) was formed in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
.
[ DLH, as it was known, was Germany's ]flag carrier
A flag carrier is a transport company, such as an airline or shipping company, that, being locally registered in a given sovereign state, enjoys preferential rights or privileges accorded by the government for international operations.
Hi ...
until 1945 when all services were terminated following the defeat of Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
; it has since been demonstrated that Deutsche Luft Hansa relied on the use of forced labor and housed forced laborers on the site of Tempelhof airport. In an effort to create a new national airline, a company called Aktiengesellschaft für Luftverkehrsbedarf (Luftag),[ was founded in ]Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...
on 6 January 1953, with many of its staff having worked for the pre-war Lufthansa; this included Kurt Weigelt, a Nazi convicted of war crimes, who served on the board on the new Lufthansa, and Kurt Knipfer, a member of the Nazi party from 1929 who led Luft Hansa from 1933 to 1945.
West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
had not yet been granted sovereignty over its airspace, so it was not known when the new airline could become operational. Nevertheless, in 1953 Luftag placed orders for four Convair CV-340s and four Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation
The Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation is an American aircraft, a member of the Lockheed Constellation aircraft line. The L-1049 was Lockheed's response to the successful Douglas DC-6 airliner, first flying in 1950. The aircraft was also produc ...
s and set up a maintenance base at Hamburg Airport
Hamburg Airport , known in German as ''Flughafen Hamburg'', is a major international airport in Hamburg, the second-largest city in Germany. Since November 2016 the airport has been christened after the former German chancellor Helmut Schmidt. ...
. On 6 August 1954, Luftag acquired the name and logo of the liquidated Deutsche Lufthansa for DM 30,000 (equivalent to € today), thus continuing the tradition of a German flag carrier of that name.
On 1 April 1955 Lufthansa won approval to start scheduled domestic flights,[ linking ]Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
, Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second- ...
, Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...
, Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...
, and Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...
. International flights started on 15 May 1955, to London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
, and Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...
, followed by Super Constellation
The Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation is an American aircraft, a member of the Lockheed Constellation aircraft line. The L-1049 was Lockheed's response to the successful Douglas DC-6 airliner, first flying in 1950. The aircraft was also produc ...
flights to New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
from 1 June of that year,[ and across the South Atlantic from August 1956. In August 1958 fifteen Lufthansa 1049Gs and 1649s left Germany each week to Canada and the United States, three 1049Gs a week flew to South America, three flew to Tehran and one to Baghdad. In parallel, the airline also initiated a marketing campaign to sell itself and West Germany. The challenges involved encouraging travelers to consider visiting the country in the wake of World War II, as well as offering services to other nations via the Frankfurt airport hub. More specifically, Lufthansa's efforts shaped and reflected the development of a modern form of consumerism and advertising through the sale of air travel. By 1963, the airline, initially limited in its public relations efforts, had become a major purveyor of West Germany's image abroad.
The special status of Berlin meant that Lufthansa was not allowed to fly to either part of ]Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
until German reunification in 1990. Originally thought to be only a temporary matter (and with intentions to move the airline's headquarters and main base there once the political situation changed),[ the ]Division of Germany
Division or divider may refer to:
Mathematics
* Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication
* Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division
Military
* Division (military), a formation typically consisti ...
turned out to be longer than expected, which gradually led to Frankfurt Airport
Frankfurt Airport (; german: link=no, Flughafen Frankfurt Main , also known as ''Rhein-Main-Flughafen'') is a major international airport located in Frankfurt, the fifth-largest city of Germany and one of the world's leading financial centres ...
becoming Lufthansa's primary hub.
East Germany
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
tried to establish its airline in 1955 using the ''Lufthansa'' name, but this resulted in a legal dispute with West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
, where Lufthansa was operating. East Germany instead established Interflug
Interflug GmbH (german: Interflug Gesellschaft für internationalen Flugverkehr m.b.H.; ) was the national airline of the German Democratic Republic from 1963 to 1990. Based in East Berlin, it operated scheduled and chartered flights to Europea ...
as its national airline in 1963, which coincided with the East German Lufthansa being shut down.
1960s: Introduction of jetliners
In 1958 Lufthansa ordered four Boeing 707s and started jet flights from Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...
to New York City in March 1960. Boeing 720
The Boeing 720 is an American narrow-body airliner produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
Announced in July 1957 as a 707 derivative for shorter flights from shorter runways, the 720 first flew on November 23, 1959.
Its type certificate was ...
Bs were later bought to back up the 707 fleets. In February 1961 Far East routes were extended beyond Bangkok
Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populati ...
, Thailand, to Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
and Tokyo. Lagos
Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...
, Nigeria, and Johannesburg
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...
, South Africa were added in 1962.
Lufthansa introduced the Boeing 727
The Boeing 727 is an American narrow-body airliner that was developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
After the heavy 707 quad-jet was introduced in 1958, Boeing addressed the demand for shorter flight lengths from smaller airpo ...
in 1964 and that May began the Polar route
A polar route is an aircraft route across the uninhabited polar ice cap regions. The term "polar route" was originally applied to great circle navigation routes between Europe and the west coast of North America in the 1950s.
The Arctic Early ye ...
from Frankfurt to Tokyo via Anchorage. In February 1965 the company ordered twenty-one Boeing 737
The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Renton Factory in Washington.
Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the 707 fuselage width and six abreast seating with two un ...
s that went into service in 1968. Lufthansa was the first customer for the Boeing 737 and was one of four buyers of the 737-100s (the others were NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
, Malaysia-Singapore Airlines, and Avianca
Avianca S.A. (acronym in Spanish for ''Aerovias del Continente Americano S.A.'', "Airways of the American Continent") is a Colombian airline. It has been the flag carrier of Colombia since December 5, 1919, when it was initially registered under ...
– while the NASA airframe was the first built, it was the last delivered and originally intended for delivery to Lufthansa). Lufthansa was the first foreign launch customer for a Boeing airliner.
1970s–1980s: The wide-body era
The wide-body
A wide-body aircraft, also known as a twin-aisle aircraft, is an airliner with a fuselage wide enough to accommodate two passenger aisles with seven or more seats abreast. The typical fuselage diameter is . In the typical wide-body economy cabi ...
era for Lufthansa started with a Boeing 747
The Boeing 747 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2022.
After introducing the 707 in October 1958, Pan Am wanted a jet times its size, t ...
flight on 26 April 1970. It was followed by the introduction of the DC-10-30 on 12 November 1973, and the first Airbus A300
The Airbus A300 is a wide-body airliner developed and manufactured by Airbus.
In September 1967, aircraft manufacturers in the United Kingdom, France, and West Germany signed a memorandum of understanding to develop a large airliner.
West G ...
in 1976. In 1979 Lufthansa and Swissair
Swissair AG/ S.A. (German: Schweizerische Luftverkehr-AG; French: S.A. Suisse pour la Navigation Aérienne) was the national airline of Switzerland between its founding in 1931 and bankruptcy in 2002.
It was formed from a merger between Bal ...
became launch customers for the Airbus A310
The Airbus A310 is a wide-body aircraft, designed and manufactured by Airbus Industrie, then a consortium of European aerospace manufacturers.
Airbus had identified a demand for an aircraft smaller than the A300, the first twin-jet wide-bod ...
with an order for twenty-five aircraft.
The company's fleet modernization programme for the 1990s began on 29 June 1985, with an order for fifteen Airbus A320s and seven Airbus A300-600s. Ten Boeing 737-300s were ordered a few days later. All were delivered between 1987 and 1992. Lufthansa also bought Airbus A321
The Airbus A321 is a member of the Airbus A320 family of short to medium range, narrow-body, commercial passenger twin engine jet airliners; it carries 185 to 236 passengers. It has a stretched fuselage which was the first derivative of the ba ...
, Airbus A340
The Airbus A340 is a long-range, wide-body passenger airliner that was developed and produced by Airbus.
In the mid-1970s, Airbus conceived several derivatives of the A300, its first airliner, and developed the A340 quadjet in parallel with ...
, and Boeing 747-400
The Boeing 747-400 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, an advanced variant of the initial Boeing 747.
The "Advanced Series 300" was announced at the September 1984 Farnborough Airshow, targeting ...
aircraft.
In 1987 Lufthansa, together with Air France
Air France (; formally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. It is a subsidiary of the Air France–KLM Group and a founding member of the SkyTeam global air ...
, Iberia
The Iberian Peninsula (),
**
* Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica''
**
**
* french: Péninsule Ibérique
* mwl, Península Eibérica
* eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...
, and Scandinavian Airlines
Scandinavian Airlines, more commonly known and styled as SAS, is the flag carrier of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. ''SAS'' is an abbreviation of the company's full name, Scandinavian Airlines System or legally Scandinavian Airlines System Denmark ...
, founded Amadeus
Amadeus may refer to:
*Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791), prolific and influential composer of classical music
*Amadeus (name), a given name and people with the name
* ''Amadeus'' (play), 1979 stage play by Peter Shaffer
* ''Amadeus'' (film), ...
, an IT company (also known as a GDS) that would enable travel agencies to sell the founders and other airlines' products from a single system.
Lufthansa adopted a new corporate identity in 1988. The fleet was given a new livery, while cabins, city offices, and airport lounges were redesigned.
1990s–2000s: Further expansion
On 28 October 1990, 25 days after reunification
A political union is a type of political entity which is composed of, or created from, smaller polities, or the process which achieves this. These smaller polities are usually called federated states and federal territories in a federal governm ...
, Berlin became a Lufthansa destination again. On 18 May 1997, Lufthansa, Air Canada
Air Canada is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Canada by the size and passengers carried. Air Canada maintains its headquarters in the borough of Saint-Laurent, Montreal, Quebec. The airline, founded in 1937, provides scheduled and ...
, Scandinavian Airlines
Scandinavian Airlines, more commonly known and styled as SAS, is the flag carrier of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. ''SAS'' is an abbreviation of the company's full name, Scandinavian Airlines System or legally Scandinavian Airlines System Denmark ...
, Thai Airways International
Thai Airways International Public Company Limited, trading as THAI (, th, บริษัท การบินไทย จำกัด (มหาชน)) is the flag carrier airline of Thailand. Formed in 1961, the airline has its corporate h ...
, and United Airlines
United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois. formed Star Alliance
Star Alliance is the world's largest global airline alliance. Founded on 14 May 1997, its CEO is Jeffrey Goh and its headquarters is located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. , Star Alliance is the largest of the three global alliances by passenge ...
, the world's first multilateral airline alliance
An airline alliance is an aviation industry arrangement between two or more airlines agreeing to cooperate on a substantial level. Alliances may provide marketing branding to facilitate travelers making inter-airline codeshare connections within c ...
.
At the beginning of 1995, Lufthansa made some structural changes aimed at creating independent operating companies of the aviation group, such as Lufthansa Technik
Lufthansa Technik AG ('Lufthansa Engineering', often referred to simply as “LHT”) provides worldwide maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) services for aircraft, engines, and components. It is a subsidiary of the Lufthansa Group.
Headquarte ...
, Lufthansa Cargo
Lufthansa Cargo AG is a German cargo airline and a wholly owned subsidiary of Lufthansa. It operates worldwide air freight and logistics services and is headquartered at Frankfurt Airport, the main hub of Lufthansa. Besides operating dedicated ...
and Lufthansa Systems
Lufthansa Systems is an information technology service provider for the aviation industry. It has around 2,200 employees in several locations in Germany and offices in 16 other countries. The company is headquartered in Raunheim near Frankfurt. ...
. Three new companies who joined later in the Lufthansa Group were LSG Sky Chefs
LSG Group, registered as LSG Lufthansa Service Holding AG, is an Aviation service company that manages multiple brands, including LSG Sky Chefs and Retail inMotion. LSG Group is a subsidiary of Deutsche Lufthansa AG. The company's world headqua ...
, Condor
Condor is the common name for two species of New World vultures, each in a monotypic genus. The name derives from the Quechua ''kuntur''. They are the largest flying land birds in the Western Hemisphere.
They are:
* The Andean condor (''Vult ...
and Lufthansa CityLine
Lufthansa CityLine GmbH is a German airline with its headquarters on the grounds of Munich Airport. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Lufthansa and maintains hubs at Frankfurt Airport and Munich Airport, from where it operates a dense domestic ...
.
In 1999, Lufthansa participated in the German Business Foundation initiative addressing class action lawsuits against German companies for World War II-era misdeeds, including the use of forced labor, by reportedly paying 10s of millions German marks. The same year, Lufthansa commissioned the scholar Lutz Budrass to investigate the use of forced labor by its predecessor company, Deutsche Luft Hansa, during World War II; it declined to publish Dr. Budrass's resulting study for more than a decade.
In 2000, Air One
Air One S.p.A. was an Italian low-cost airline which operated as Air One "Smart Carrier". It operated as Alitalia's low-cost carrier subsidiary with operating bases located in Catania–Fontanarossa Airport, Palermo Falcone–Borsellino Airpo ...
became a Lufthansa partner airline and nearly all Air One flights were code-shared with Lufthansa until Alitalia
Alitalia - Società Aerea Italiana Società per azioni, S.p.A., operating as Alitalia (), was an Italian airline which was once the flag carrier and largest airline of Italy. The company had its head office in Fiumicino, Metropolitan City of ...
purchased Air One. Lufthansa has a good track record for posting profits, even in 2001, after 9/11
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...
, the airline suffered a significant loss in profits but still managed to stay 'in the black'. While many other airlines announced layoffs (typically 20% of their workforce), Lufthansa retained its current workforce.
On 6 December 2001, Lufthansa announced an order for 15 Airbus A380
The Airbus A380 is a large wide-body airliner that was developed and produced by Airbus. It is the world's largest passenger airliner and only full-length double-deck jet airliner.
Airbus studies started in 1988, and the project was annou ...
superjumbos with 10 more options, which was confirmed on 20 December. The A380 fleet would be used for long-haul flights from Frankfurt exclusively.
In June 2003, Lufthansa opened Terminal 2 at Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...
's Franz Josef Strauß Airport to relieve its main hub, Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...
, which was suffering from capacity constraints. It is one of the first terminals in Europe partially owned by an airline.
On 17 May 2004, Lufthansa became the launch customer for the Connexion by Boeing
Connexion by Boeing (CBB) was an in-flight online internet connectivity service from Boeing. This service allowed travellers to access a high-speed internet connection while on board a plane in flight through a wired Ethernet or a wireless 802.1 ...
in-flight online connectivity service.
In autumn 2003, the implementation of a new sales strategy initiated by then-incumbent Executive Vice President
A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...
Thierry Antinori to make the company fit for the digital era led to the abolition of commission payments for travel agencies
A travel agency is a private retailer or public service that provides travel and tourism-related services to the general public on behalf of accommodation or travel suppliers to offer different kinds of travelling packages for each destinatio ...
and led to a revolution in the German travel business with many travel agencies disappearing from the market on the one hand, and the rise of new digital
Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits.
Technology and computing Hardware
*Digital electronics, electronic circuits which operate using digital signals
**Digital camera, which captures and stores digital i ...
distribution platforms on the other hand.
On 22 March 2005, Swiss International Air Lines
Swiss International Air Lines AG, colloquially known as SWISS, is the flag carrier of Switzerland, operating scheduled services in Europe and to North America, South America, Africa and Asia. Zurich Airport serves as its sole hub and Geneva ...
was purchased by Lufthansa's holding company. The acquisition included the provision that the majority shareholders (the Swiss government
The Federal Council (german: Bundesrat; french: Conseil fédéral; it, Consiglio federale; rm, Cussegl federal) is the executive body of the federal government of the Swiss Confederation and serves as the collective head of state and governme ...
and large Swiss companies) be offered payment if Lufthansa's share price outperforms an airline index during the years following the merger. The two companies will continue to be run separately.
On 6 December 2006, Lufthansa placed an order for 20 Boeing 747-8
The Boeing 747-8 is a wide-body airliner formerly developed by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, and the largest variant of the 747.
After introducing the 747-400, Boeing considered larger 747 versions as alternatives to the proposed double-deck ...
s, becoming the launch customer of the passenger model. The airline is also the second European airline to operate the Airbus A380
The Airbus A380 is a large wide-body airliner that was developed and produced by Airbus. It is the world's largest passenger airliner and only full-length double-deck jet airliner.
Airbus studies started in 1988, and the project was annou ...
(after Air France
Air France (; formally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. It is a subsidiary of the Air France–KLM Group and a founding member of the SkyTeam global air ...
). The first A380 was delivered on 19 May 2010, while the first 747-8 entered service in 2012.
In September 2008, Lufthansa Group announced its intent to purchase a stake in Brussels Airlines (SN). In June 2009, the EU Commission granted regulatory approval and Lufthansa acquired 45% of SN. In September 2016, Lufthansa announced it would purchase the remainder of Brussels Airlines for €2.6 million euro
The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...
s. The transaction was completed in early January 2017. The decision was partially taken after the Brussels airport bombings of March 2016, which caused SN to lose almost €5 million per day until 3 April.
In September 2009, Lufthansa purchased Austrian Airlines with the approval of the European Commission.
On 11 June 2010, Airbus A380 service between Frankfurt and Tokyo ( Narita) started.
2010s: Belt-tightening
After a loss of 381 million euros in the first quarter of 2010 and another 13 million loss in the year 2011 due to the economic recession and restructuring costs, Deutsche Lufthansa AG cut 3,500 administrative positions or around 20 percent of the clerical total of 16,800. In 2012, Lufthansa announced a restructuring program called SCORE to improve its operating profit. As a part of the restructuring plan, the company started to transfer all short-haul flights outside its hubs in Frankfurt, Munich, and Düsseldorf to the company's re-branded low-cost carrier
A low-cost carrier or low-cost airline (occasionally referred to as '' no-frills'', ''budget'' or '' discount carrier'' or ''airline'', and abbreviated as ''LCC'') is an airline that is operated with an especially high emphasis on minimizing op ...
Germanwings
Germanwings GmbH was a German low-cost airline wholly owned by Lufthansa which operated under the Eurowings brand. It was based in Cologne with hubs at Cologne Bonn Airport, Stuttgart Airport, Hamburg Airport, Berlin Tegel Airport, Munich Ai ...
.
In September 2013, Lufthansa Group announced its biggest order, for 59 wide-body aircraft valued more than 14 billion euros at list prices. Earlier in the same year, Lufthansa placed an order for 100 next-generation narrow-body aircraft.
The group has had a long-standing dispute with the Vereinigung Cockpit union which has demanded a scheme in which pilots can retire at the age of 55, and 60% of their pay be retained, which Lufthansa insists is no longer affordable. Lufthansa pilots were joined by pilots from the group's budget carrier Germanwings to stage a nationwide strike in support of their demands in April 2014 which lasted three days. The pilots staged a six-hour strike at the end of the summer holidays in September 2014, which caused the cancellation of 200 Lufthansa flights and 100 Germanwings flights.
During the course of the 2014 FIFA World Cup
The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...
, part of the fleet was branded "Fanhansa".
In November 2014, Lufthansa signed an outsourcing deal worth $1.25 billion with IBM that will see the US company take over the airline's IT infrastructure services division and staff.
In June 2015, Lufthansa announced plans to close its small long-haul base at Düsseldorf Airport
Düsseldorf Airport (german: link=no, Flughafen Düsseldorf, ; until March 2013 ''Düsseldorf International Airport''; ) is the international airport of Düsseldorf, the capital of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is about north ...
for economic reasons by October 2015. At the time, the base consisted of two Airbus A340-300
The Airbus A340 is a long-haul, long-range, wide-body passenger airliner that was developed and produced by Airbus.
In the mid-1970s, Airbus conceived several derivatives of the Airbus A300, A300, its first airliner, and developed the A340 qu ...
s rotating between Newark
Newark most commonly refers to:
* Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States
* Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area
Newark may also refer to:
Places Canada
* Niagara-on-the ...
and Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
. As a result, service to Chicago from Düsseldorf was first made seasonal, suspended for the winter 2015 season, and then canceled altogether. Service to Newark, however, was initially maintained. From the winter 2015 schedule through the end of the winter 2016 schedule, Düsseldorf was served by aircraft which also flew the Munich-Newark route. The Düsseldorf-Newark route ended on 30 November 2018, which was operated with an Airbus A330-300 aircraft. Their base was officially closed in March 2019.
On 22 March 2016, Lufthansa ended Boeing 737-500
The Boeing 737 Classic is a series of narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliners produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, the second generation of the Boeing 737 series of aircraft.
Development began in 1979 and the first variant, the 737-300, ...
operations. The airline's last Boeing 737 (a 737-300) was retired on 29 October 2016, after a flight from Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
to Frankfurt. Lufthansa operated the 737 in several variants for almost 50 years, the first aircraft having been delivered on 27 December 1967.
On 4 December 2017, Lufthansa became the first European airline to receive the Skytrax
Skytrax (originally known as Inflight Research Services) is a United Kingdom–based consultancy which runs an airline and airport review and ranking site.
Services
Skytrax conducts research for commercial airlines, as well as taking surveys ...
5 star certification. As stated by Skytrax, a key factor in the positive rating was the announcement of a new Business Class cabin and seating that was expected to be introduced in 2020. While this makes Lufthansa the 10th airline to be holding this award, in reality the 5th star was given to a product that was supposed to be introduced two years after the evaluation. In celebration, Lufthansa painted an Airbus A320
The Airbus A320 family is a series of Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus.
The A320 was launched in March 1984, Maiden flight, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air F ...
and a Boeing 747-8
The Boeing 747-8 is a wide-body airliner formerly developed by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, and the largest variant of the 747.
After introducing the 747-400, Boeing considered larger 747 versions as alternatives to the proposed double-deck ...
in the "5 Starhansa" livery.
In March 2018, Lufthansa and other airlines like British Airways
British Airways (BA) is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a populati ...
and American Airlines
American Airlines is a major airlines of the United States, major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the world when measured ...
accepted a request from Beijing to list Taiwan as part of China.
In March 2019 Lufthansa ordered 20 Boeing 787-9
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is an American wide-body jet airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
After dropping its unconventional Sonic Cruiser project, Boeing announced the conventional 7E7 on January 29, 2003, ...
and an additional 20 Airbus A350-900 for its own and the group's fleet replacement and expansion. Also, the airline announced it would sell six A380 aircraft back to Airbus, beginning in 2022.
2020s: COVID-19 pandemic and recovery
On 19 March 2020 Lufthansa cancelled 95 percent of all flights due to a travel ban because of the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
. Consequently, the airline incurred losses of 1 million euros per hour by April 2020. While Lufthansa reduced its costs throughout 2020, continuing health risks and travel restrictions still caused hourly losses of approximately 500,000 euros on average at the beginning of 2021.
On 14 May, Lufthansa Group announced that it planned to operate 1,800 weekly flights by the end of June. The company's recovery plans involved high-density cargo to replace paying customers. All Lufthansa Group required all passengers to wear a mask while aboard.
On 25 June, Deutsche Lufthansa AG shareholders accepted a bailout, consisting of capital measures and the participation of the Economic Stabilisation Fund (WSF) of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy
The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (german: Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Klimaschutz, ), abbreviated BMWK (was BMWi), is a cabinet-level ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany. It was previously known as ...
. The measures, which passed after initial opposition by principal shareholder Heinz Hermann Thiele
Heinz Hermann Thiele (2 April 1941 – 23 February 2021) was a German businessman and the chairman of Knorr-Bremse AG, a German automobile brakes manufacturer, and chairman of Vossloh, a German transport technology manufacturer. At the time of ...
, gave the government a 20% stake in the airline.
In January 2021, Lufthansa CEO Spohr announced that the entire currently stored Airbus A340-600
The Airbus A340 is a long-range, wide-body passenger airliner that was developed and produced by Airbus.
In the mid-1970s, Airbus conceived several derivatives of the A300, its first airliner, and developed the A340 quadjet in parallel wi ...
fleet will be retired with immediate effect and not return to service anymore. This decision was later overturned with several A340-600 aircraft returning to service in 2021 after several months in storage. In June 2021, Lufthansa said it wants to repay state aid it received during the pandemic before Germany's federal election in September 2021 if possible. Also in June 2021, Lufthansa said it would change its communications to adopt a more gender-neutral
Gender neutrality (adjective form: gender-neutral), also known as gender-neutralism or the gender neutrality movement, is the idea that policies, language, and other social institutions (social structures or gender roles) should avoid distinguish ...
and inclusive language. It will remove greetings such as "Ladies and Gentlemen
Ladies and Gentlemen may refer to:
* Ladies and gentlemen (salutation), a common introductory phrase
Film and television
* ''Ladies & Gentlemen'' (2015 film), a Telugu film
* ''Ladies & Gentlemen'' (TV series), a 2021 Bangladeshi drama seri ...
".
In January 2022 Lufthansa admitted it had operated over 18,000 empty flights to keep airport slots during the pandemic.
In March 2022, Lufthansa originally confirmed that its entire Airbus A380
The Airbus A380 is a large wide-body airliner that was developed and produced by Airbus. It is the world's largest passenger airliner and only full-length double-deck jet airliner.
Airbus studies started in 1988, and the project was annou ...
fleet would be retired, having been in storage since early 2020. This decision was reversed in June 2022, with plans to now return up to five aircraft from storage by 2023 to be based at Munich Airport
Munich International Airport- Franz Josef Strauß (german: link=no, Flughafen München) is an international airport serving Munich and Upper Bavaria. It is the second-busiest airport in Germany in terms of passenger traffic after Frankfurt A ...
. There is also an option to return all remaining eight A380 back to service by 2024, as six of formerly 14 have already been sold.
In May 2022, Skytrax
Skytrax (originally known as Inflight Research Services) is a United Kingdom–based consultancy which runs an airline and airport review and ranking site.
Services
Skytrax conducts research for commercial airlines, as well as taking surveys ...
demoted Lufthansa from its aforementioned 5 star rating which it held since 2017 as the first European carrier to do so, to an overall 4 star rating.
Corporate affairs
Ownership
Lufthansa was a state-owned enterprise
A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a Government, government entity which is established or nationalised by the ''national government'' or ''provincial government'' by an executive order or an act of legislation in order to earn Profit (econom ...
until 1994. Deutsche Lufthansa AG shares have been publicly traded on all German stock exchanges since 1966. In addition to floor trading, it is also traded electronically using the Xetra system. It is a DAX
Dax or DAX may refer to:
Business and organizations
* DAX, stock market index of the top 40 German companies
** DAX 100, an expanded index of 100 stocks, superseded by the HDAX
** TecDAX, stock index of the top 30 German technology firms
* Dax ...
index share and is listed in the Frankfurt Stock Exchange
The Frankfurt Stock Exchange (german: link=no, Börse Frankfurt, former German name – FWB) is the world's 12th largest stock exchange by market capitalization. It has operations from 8:00 am to 10:00 pm ( German time).
Organisation
Locat ...
's Prime Standard The Prime Standard is a market segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange that includes companies which comply with transparency standards higher than those of the General Standard, which is regulated by law. The Prime Standard includes quarterly repor ...
. At the end of 2019, the shareholders’ register showed that German investors held 67.3% of the shares (previous year: 72.1%). The second-largest group, with 10.4%, was shareholders from Luxembourg. Investors from the US accounted for 8.1%, followed by Ireland and the United Kingdom, each with 3.6%. This ensures compliance with the provisions of the German Aviation Compliance Documentation Act (LuftNaSiG). As of the reporting date, 58% of the shares were held by institutional investors (previous year: 53%), and 42% were held by private individuals (previous year: 47%). Lansdowne Partners International Ltd. and BlackRock, Inc. were the largest shareholders in the Lufthansa Group at year-end, with 4.9% and 3.1% respectively. All the transactions requiring disclosure and published during the financial year 2019, as well as the quarterly updates on the shareholder structure, are available online. During the 2020 COVID crisis Heinz Hermann Thiele
Heinz Hermann Thiele (2 April 1941 – 23 February 2021) was a German businessman and the chairman of Knorr-Bremse AG, a German automobile brakes manufacturer, and chairman of Vossloh, a German transport technology manufacturer. At the time of ...
increased his stake to more than 12%; he died a few months later. The free float
In the context of stock markets, the public float or free float represents the portion of shares of a corporation that are in the hands of public investors as opposed to locked-in shares held by promoters, company officers, controlling-interest inv ...
for Lufthansa shares was 67% in 2020, as per the definition of the Deutsche Börse
Deutsche Börse AG () or the Deutsche Börse Group, is a German company offering marketplace organizing for the trading of shares and other securities. It is also a transaction services provider. It gives companies and investors access to glo ...
.
German government bail-out
The German government offered a €9 billion bailout to support the airline through COVID-19 induced economic issues. With this bailout, the government's stake in the airline increased to 20%, and also grant it board seats, while diluting existing shareholder stakes. The shareholders of the company approved the bailout on Thursday, June 26, offering the airline a fresh lease of life.
Business trends
Key business and operating results of the Lufthansa Group for recent years are shown below (as at year ending 31 December):
Headquarters
Lufthansa's corporate headquarters are in Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...
. In 1971, Lawrence Fellows of ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' described the then-new headquarters building that Lufthansa occupied in Cologne as "gleaming". In 1986, Left-wing terrorists bombed the building. No one was injured. In 2006, builders laid the first stone of the new Lufthansa headquarters in Deutz, Cologne
The Cologne borough of Deutz (german: Köln-Deutz ; ), is a part of central Cologne, Germany, and was once an independent town.
History
Deutz was established under Roman Emperor Constantine I in 310 AD, when he established ''Castrum Divitia'', ...
. By the end of 2007, Lufthansa planned to move 800 employees, including the company's finance department, to the new building. However, in early 2013 Lufthansa revealed plans to relocate its head office from Cologne to Frankfurt by 2017.
Several Lufthansa departments are not at the headquarters; instead they are in the Lufthansa Aviation Center at Frankfurt Airport
Frankfurt Airport (; german: link=no, Flughafen Frankfurt Main , also known as ''Rhein-Main-Flughafen'') is a major international airport located in Frankfurt, the fifth-largest city of Germany and one of the world's leading financial centres ...
. These departments include Corporate Communications and Investor Relations.
Airline subsidiaries
In addition to its main passenger operation, Lufthansa has several airline subsidiaries, including:
Wholly owned by Lufthansa
* Lufthansa German Airlines
** Lufthansa Regional
Lufthansa Regional is an operational entity for regional and feeder flights performed by two regional airlines owned by Lufthansa within its route network. – regional feeder entity
*** Lufthansa CityLine
Lufthansa CityLine GmbH is a German airline with its headquarters on the grounds of Munich Airport. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Lufthansa and maintains hubs at Frankfurt Airport and Munich Airport, from where it operates a dense domestic ...
– German regional airline headquartered in Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...
and part of Lufthansa Regional
Lufthansa Regional is an operational entity for regional and feeder flights performed by two regional airlines owned by Lufthansa within its route network.
*** Air Dolomiti
Air Dolomiti S.p.A. is an Italian regional airline with its head office in Dossobuono, Villafranca di Verona, Italy, operating base at Verona Villafranca Airport and focus cities at Munich Airport and Frankfurt Airport in Germany.[Villafranca di Verona
Villafranca di Verona is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Verona in the Veneto, Northern Italy.
History
The position on the ancient via Postumia and the perpendicular intersection structure of its roads suggests that the city had Roman ...]
and part of Lufthansa Regional
Lufthansa Regional is an operational entity for regional and feeder flights performed by two regional airlines owned by Lufthansa within its route network.
** Eurowings Discover
Eurowings Discover is a German airline headquartered in Frankfurt. It is owned by the Lufthansa Group and serves leisure destinations around the Mediterranean, North America and the Caribbean from its bases at Frankfurt Airport and Munich Airp ...
German long- and medium-haul leisure airline
* Network Airlines
** Austrian Airlines
Austrian Airlines AG, often shortened to Austrian, is the flag carrier of Austria and a subsidiary of the Lufthansa Group. The airline is headquartered on the grounds of Vienna International Airport in Schwechat where it also maintains its ...
– the flag carrier airline of Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
based at Vienna International Airport
Vienna International Airport (german: Flughafen Wien-Schwechat; ) is the international airport of Vienna, the capital of Austria, located in Schwechat, southeast of central Vienna and west of Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. It is the co ...
** Swiss International Air Lines
Swiss International Air Lines AG, colloquially known as SWISS, is the flag carrier of Switzerland, operating scheduled services in Europe and to North America, South America, Africa and Asia. Zurich Airport serves as its sole hub and Geneva ...
– the flag carrier airline of Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
based at Zurich Airport
Zürich Airport (), french: Aéroport de Zurich, it, Aeroporto di Zurigo, rm, Eroport da Turitg is the largest international airport of Switzerland and the airline hub, principal hub of Swiss International Air Lines. It serves Zürich, Switze ...
*** Edelweiss Air
Edelweiss Air AG is a Swiss leisure airline, charter airline and the sister company of Swiss International Air Lines. It operates flights to European and intercontinental destinations from its base at Zürich Airport.
History
The airline w ...
– Swiss leisure airline subsidiary
** Brussels Airlines – the flag carrier airline of Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
based at Brussels Airport
Brussels Airport, nl, Luchthaven Brussel, vls, Vliegpling Brussel, german: Flughafen Brüssel is an international airport northeast of Brussels, the capital of Belgium. In 2019, more than 26 million passengers arrived or departed at Bruss ...
* Eurowings Group (low-cost or hybrid point-to-point airlines)
** Eurowings
Eurowings GmbH is a German low-cost carrier headquartered in Düsseldorf and a wholly owned subsidiary of the Lufthansa Group. Founded in 1996, it serves a network of domestic and European destinations and formerly also operated some long-hau ...
– German low-cost airline headquartered in Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second- ...
** Eurowings Europe
Eurowings Europe is a low-cost airline registered in Malta that is a subsidiary of Lufthansa and a sister company of the German Eurowings.
History
In January 2016, ch-aviation reported that Eurowings Europe expected to start operations in the m ...
– low-cost airline registered in Austria
* Lufthansa Cargo
Lufthansa Cargo AG is a German cargo airline and a wholly owned subsidiary of Lufthansa. It operates worldwide air freight and logistics services and is headquartered at Frankfurt Airport, the main hub of Lufthansa. Besides operating dedicated ...
– German cargo airline headquartered in Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...
, formerly German Cargo
German Cargo Services GmbH, operating as German Cargo, was an airline from (West) Germany that operated cargo flights on behalf of Lufthansa, of which it was a wholly owned subsidiary.
History
International Air Transport Association (IATA), ...
Partly owned by Lufthansa
* AeroLogic
AeroLogic GmbH is a German cargo airline based in Schkeuditz near Leipzig. It is a joint-venture between DHL and Lufthansa Cargo which operates scheduled international and long-haul cargo services out of its hubs Leipzig/Halle Airport and Frankfu ...
– German cargo airline owned by a joint-venture of Lufthansa (50%) and DHL
DHL is an American founded, German logistics company providing courier, package delivery and express mail service, which is a division of the German logistics firm Deutsche Post. The company group delivers over 1.8 billion parcels per year. DHL ...
(50%)
* SunExpress
SunExpress, is a Turkish-German airline based in Antalya. SunExpress was founded in October 1989 as a joint venture between Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa. It operates scheduled and chartered passenger flights to 90 destinations in 30 countries ...
– Turkish leisure airline jointly owned by Lufthansa (50%) and Turkish Airlines
Turkish Airlines ( Turkish: ''Türk Hava Yolları'') is the national flag carrier airline of Turkey. , it operates scheduled services to 340 destinations in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas, making it the largest mainline carrier in the w ...
(50%)
Former
*British Midland International
British Midland Airways Limited (trading at various times throughout its history as British Midland, bmi British Midland, bmi or British Midland International) was an airline with its head office in Donington Hall in Castle Donington, close to ...
(2009–2011, stake owned since 1999) – British airline subsidiary sold to International Airlines Group
International Consolidated Airlines Group S.A., trading as International Airlines Group and usually shortened to IAG, is an Anglo-Spanish multinational airline holding company with its registered office in Madrid, Spain, and its global headqua ...
and merged into British Airways
British Airways (BA) is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a populati ...
in 2012
*Condor Flugdienst
Condor, legally incorporated as ''Condor Flugdienst GmbH'' and stylized as condor, is a German airline established in 1955 with Frankfurt Airport being its main base. Condor offers scheduled flights to leisure destinations and operates, from Ge ...
(1959–2004, stakes owned from 1955 until 2006) – former leisure subsidiary, shares gradually acquired by Thomas Cook AG
Thomas Cook AG was an Anglo-German, global travel group. The group had its headquarters in Rochdale, and sold products such as package holidays and flights through its 3 in-house airlines. On 19 June 2007, the group merged with MyTravel Group p ...
, later owned by Thomas Cook Group
Thomas Cook Group plc was a global travel group, headquartered in the United Kingdom and listed on the London Stock Exchange from its formation on 19 June 2007 by the merger of Thomas Cook AG — successor to Thomas Cook & Son — an ...
*German Cargo
German Cargo Services GmbH, operating as German Cargo, was an airline from (West) Germany that operated cargo flights on behalf of Lufthansa, of which it was a wholly owned subsidiary.
History
International Air Transport Association (IATA), ...
(1977–1993) – cargo subsidiary, reorganized into the current Lufthansa Cargo
Lufthansa Cargo AG is a German cargo airline and a wholly owned subsidiary of Lufthansa. It operates worldwide air freight and logistics services and is headquartered at Frankfurt Airport, the main hub of Lufthansa. Besides operating dedicated ...
*Luftfahrtgesellschaft Walter
German Airways Fluggesellschaft GmbH, operating as German Airways and formerly named ''Luftfahrtgesellschaft Walter'' or ''LGW'' for short, was a German regional airline headquartered in Düsseldorf.
Originally LGW was an independent provider ...
– German low-cost regional airline integrated into Eurowings in October 2017, sold to Zeitfracht in 2019
* Lufthansa Italia (2009–2011) – Italian airline subsidiary established, sharing IATA, ICAO, and callsigns with the main Lufthansa
* SunExpress Deutschland (2011–2020) – German subsidiary of SunExpress
SunExpress, is a Turkish-German airline based in Antalya. SunExpress was founded in October 1989 as a joint venture between Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa. It operates scheduled and chartered passenger flights to 90 destinations in 30 countries ...
[aerotelegraph.com](_blank)
(German) 23 June 2020
Other subsidiaries
In addition to the airlines mentioned above, Lufthansa maintains further aviation affiliated subsidiaries:
* Global Load Control, a world leader in remote weight and balance services.
* LSG Sky Chefs
LSG Group, registered as LSG Lufthansa Service Holding AG, is an Aviation service company that manages multiple brands, including LSG Sky Chefs and Retail inMotion. LSG Group is a subsidiary of Deutsche Lufthansa AG. The company's world headqua ...
, the world's largest airline caterer, which accounts for one-third of the world's airline meal
An airline meal, airline food, or in-flight meal is a meal served to passengers on board a commercial airliner. These meals are prepared by specialist airline catering services and normally served to passengers using an airline service trolley. ...
s.
* Lufthansa Consulting
Lufthansa Consulting is an international aviation consultancy for airlines, airports and related industries. The company is an independent subsidiary of the Lufthansa Group and provides services to the air transportation industry worldwide. The h ...
, an international aviation consultancy for airlines, airports, and related industries.
* Lufthansa Flight Training
Lufthansa Aviation Training GmbH is the flight academy subsidiary of Lufthansa, that trains Lufthansa Group pilots as well as cabin and technical staff. The company has about 500 employees and has been in business for around 50 years.
Operat ...
, a provider of flight crew training services to various airlines and the main training arm for the airline's pilots.
* Lufthansa Systems
Lufthansa Systems is an information technology service provider for the aviation industry. It has around 2,200 employees in several locations in Germany and offices in 16 other countries. The company is headquartered in Raunheim near Frankfurt. ...
, the largest European aviation IT provider.
* Lufthansa Technik
Lufthansa Technik AG ('Lufthansa Engineering', often referred to simply as “LHT”) provides worldwide maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) services for aircraft, engines, and components. It is a subsidiary of the Lufthansa Group.
Headquarte ...
, aircraft maintenance providers.
* Lufthansa City Center International, a network of independent travel agents who are Lufthansa franchisees
* Lufthansa AirPlus Servicekarten GMBH, (AirPlus International) travel payment company via UATP and Mastercard.
Branding
The Lufthansa logo, an encircled stylized crane in flight, was first created in 1918 by Otto Firle. It was part of the livery of the first German airline, Deutsche Luft-Reederei
Deutsche Luft-Reederei (D.L.R.), was a German airline established in December 1917 which started operating in 1919.
History
The name means "German (Deutsche) Air (Luft) Shipping Company (Reederei)". D.L.R. was reorganized as Aero Lloyd AG in 1 ...
(abbreviated DLR), which began air service on 5 February 1919. In 1926, Deutsche Luft Hansa
''Deutsche Luft Hansa A.G.'' (from 1933 styled as ''Deutsche Lufthansa'' and also known as ''Luft Hansa'', ''Lufthansa'', or DLH) was a German airline, serving as flag carrier of the country during the later years of the Weimar Republic and t ...
adopted this symbol, and in 1954, Lufthansa expressed continuity by adopting it and later in 1963 – a variant thereof as redesigned by Robert Lisovskyi
Robert Lisovskyi ( uk, Роберт Антонович Лісовський; 29 December 1893 – 28 December 1982) was a Ukrainian artist and graphic designer, a follower of Mykhailo Boychuk and Heorhiy Narbut. He was specializing in various ...
.
The original creator of the name Lufthansa is believed to be F.A. Fischer von Puturzyn. In 1925, he published a book entitled "Luft-Hansa" which examined the options open to aviation policymakers at the time. Luft Hansa was the name given to the new airline, which resulted from the merger of Junkers
Junkers Flugzeug- und Motorenwerke AG (JFM, earlier JCO or JKO in World War I, English: Junkers Aircraft and Motor Works) more commonly Junkers , was a major German aircraft and aircraft engine manufacturer. It was founded there in Dessau, Germ ...
' airline ( Luftverkehr AG) and ''Deutscher Aero Lloyd''.[Lufthansa Chronicle](_blank)
Konzern.lufthansa.com (28 June 2011). Retrieved on 8 July 2011.
After World War II, the company kept blue and yellow as its main colours and the crane logo. Since the beginning of the 1960s, Helvetica
Helvetica (originally Neue Haas Grotesk) is a widely used sans-serif typeface developed in 1957 by Swiss typeface designer Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffmann.
Helvetica is a neo-grotesque design, one influenced by the famous 19th century (1890s) ...
was used for the company name in the livery. The 1970s retro livery featured the top half of the fuselage painted in all-white on top and the lower fuselage (bottom half, including the engines) was gray/silver aluminium, below a blue cheatline window band and a black painted nose. The crane logo was painted blue on the engines, on the bottom half of the fuselage just below the cockpit windows, and a yellow circle inside a blue band on the tail.
German designer Otl Aicher
Otto "Otl" Aicher (; 13 May 1922 – 1 September 1991) was a German graphic designer and typographer. Aicher co-founded and taught at the influential Ulm School of Design. He is known for having led the design team of the 1972 Summer Olympics ...
created a comprehensive corporate design for the airline in 1967. The crane logo was now always displayed in a circle which, on the livery, was yellow on an otherwise blue tailfin. Helvetica was used as the main typeface for both the livery and publications. The blue band and general paint scheme of the aircraft were retained from the previous livery.
Aicher's concept was retained in the 1988 design. The window band was removed and the fuselage was painted in grey.
In 2018, Lufthansa changed their livery. The encircled crane was retained, and the background changed from yellow to dark blue. The vertical stabilizer and the rear fuselage were painted in dark blue, and the tail cone remained white. The main fuselage was painted in all white, and the brand name "Lufthansa" was painted above the windows, also in dark blue.
The company slogan is 'Say yes to the world.'
Alliances and partnerships
Commercial
Lufthansa bought a 19% stake in JetBlue Airways
JetBlue Airways Corporation (stylized as jetBlue) is a major American low cost airline, and the seventh largest airline in North America by passengers carried. The airline is headquartered in the Long Island City neighborhood of the New York ...
in December 2007 and entered a code-sharing agreement with the airline. It was the first major investment by a European carrier in an American carrier since the EU–U.S. Open Skies Agreement came into effect in 2008. Lufthansa sold its stake in JetBlue in March 2015.
In late 2007, Lufthansa Cargo was forced to relocate a hub from Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...
to Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
.
On 28 August 2008, Lufthansa and Brussels Airlines announced that they were negotiating a merger.
Lufthansa acquired a 45% stake in Brussels Airlines in 2009. It has an option to acquire the remaining 55% by 2017. As a part of the deal Brussels Airlines joined Star Alliance
Star Alliance is the world's largest global airline alliance. Founded on 14 May 1997, its CEO is Jeffrey Goh and its headquarters is located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. , Star Alliance is the largest of the three global alliances by passenge ...
in December 2009.
On 28 October 2008, Lufthansa exercised its option to purchase a further 60% share in BMI (in addition to the 20% Lufthansa already owned), this resulted in a dispute with the former owner Sir Michael Bishop. Both parties reached an agreement at the end of June 2009, and the acquisition took place with effect from 1 July 2009. Lufthansa acquired the remaining 20% from Scandinavian Airlines on 1 November 2009, taking complete control of BMI.
Lufthansa completed the purchase of Austrian Airlines
Austrian Airlines AG, often shortened to Austrian, is the flag carrier of Austria and a subsidiary of the Lufthansa Group. The airline is headquartered on the grounds of Vienna International Airport in Schwechat where it also maintains its ...
from the Austrian government in January 2009.
In 2010, Lufthansa was named in a European Commission
The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...
investigation into price-fixing, but was not fined because it acted as a whistleblower.
In April 2012, Lufthansa completed the sale of BMI to International Airlines Group
International Consolidated Airlines Group S.A., trading as International Airlines Group and usually shortened to IAG, is an Anglo-Spanish multinational airline holding company with its registered office in Madrid, Spain, and its global headqua ...
(IAG), owner of British Airways and Iberia for £172.5 million.
In July 2012, a Qantas–Lufthansa Technik maintenance deal for Tullamarine airport fell through due to having insufficient engine maintenance work to support the partnership. This resulted in 164 engineers being made redundant. This followed just months after the closing of heavy maintenance operations, which resulted in 400 additional job losses. It was announced that the Lufthansa Technik–Qantas partnership would end in September.
Lufthansa also coordinates scheduling and ticket sales on transatlantic flights with Air Canada and United Airlines (as do Brussels Airlines, Swiss and Austrian Airlines). Lufthansa (with Swiss and Austrian Airlines) cooperates similarly with ANA on flights to Japan. Both ventures required the approval of competition authorities.
Technology
Until April 2009 Lufthansa inventory and departure control systems, based on Unisys
Unisys Corporation is an American multinational information technology (IT) services and consulting company headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania. It provides digital workplace solutions, cloud, applications, and infrastructure solutions, e ...
were managed by LH Systems. Lufthansa reservations systems were outsourced to Amadeus in the early 1990s. Following a decision to outsource all components of the Passenger Service System
A passenger service system (PSS) is a series of critical systems used by airlines. The PSS usually comprises an airline reservations system, an airline inventory system and a departure control system (DCS).
Modules
Generally the PSS is made up ...
, the functions were outsourced to the Altéa platform managed by Amadeus
Amadeus may refer to:
*Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791), prolific and influential composer of classical music
*Amadeus (name), a given name and people with the name
* ''Amadeus'' (play), 1979 stage play by Peter Shaffer
* ''Amadeus'' (film), ...
.
Partner airlines
Lufthansa describes Air Malta
Air Malta plc (stylized as airmalta) is the flag carrier airline of Malta, with its headquarters in Luqa and its hub at Malta International Airport. It operates services to destinations in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.
History
...
, Luxair
Luxair, legally ''Luxair S.A., Société Luxembourgeoise de Navigation Aérienne'', is the flag carrier airline of Luxembourg with its headquarters and hub at Luxembourg Airport. It operates scheduled services to destinations in Europe, North Af ...
, and LATAM
LATAM Airlines Group S.A. is an airline holding company headquartered in Santiago, Chile. It is considered the largest airline company in Latin America with subsidiaries in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay and Peru. The company filed for Ch ...
as partner airlines. The partnerships mainly involve code-sharing and recognition of each other's frequent flier programmes.
Sponsorships
Lufthansa sponsors Bundesliga
The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...
club Eintracht Frankfurt
Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The team is currently playing in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the Germa ...
. The Lufthansa Group also sponsors the German Sports Aid Foundation to promote its sociopolitical goals and the athletes it sponsors.
Destinations
Codeshare agreements
Lufthansa codeshares with the following airlines:
* Aegean Airlines
Aegean Airlines S.A. ( el, Αερογραμμές Αιγαίου Ανώνυμη Εταιρεία ''Aeroporía Aigaíou Anónimi Etairía'', ) is the flag carrier airline of Greece and the largest Greek airline by total number of passengers carri ...
* Air Astana
Air Astana ( kk, Эйр Астана, translit=Eir Astana; russian: Эйр Астана́, translit=) is an airline group based in Almaty, Kazakhstan. It operates scheduled international and domestic services on 64 routes from its main hub, Alma ...
* airBaltic
* Air Canada
Air Canada is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Canada by the size and passengers carried. Air Canada maintains its headquarters in the borough of Saint-Laurent, Montreal, Quebec. The airline, founded in 1937, provides scheduled and ...
* Air China
* Air Dolomiti
Air Dolomiti S.p.A. is an Italian regional airline with its head office in Dossobuono, Villafranca di Verona, Italy, operating base at Verona Villafranca Airport and focus cities at Munich Airport and Frankfurt Airport in Germany.[Air Malta
Air Malta plc (stylized as airmalta) is the flag carrier airline of Malta, with its headquarters in Luqa and its hub at Malta International Airport. It operates services to destinations in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.
History
...]
* Air New Zealand
* All Nippon Airways
* Asiana Airlines
* Austrian Airlines
Austrian Airlines AG, often shortened to Austrian, is the flag carrier of Austria and a subsidiary of the Lufthansa Group. The airline is headquartered on the grounds of Vienna International Airport in Schwechat where it also maintains its ...
LH
* Avianca
Avianca S.A. (acronym in Spanish for ''Aerovias del Continente Americano S.A.'', "Airways of the American Continent") is a Colombian airline. It has been the flag carrier of Colombia since December 5, 1919, when it was initially registered under ...
* Brussels Airlines LH
* Cathay Pacific
* Copa Airlines
* Croatia Airlines
* EgyptAir
* Ethiopian Airlines
* Etihad Airways
* Eurowings
Eurowings GmbH is a German low-cost carrier headquartered in Düsseldorf and a wholly owned subsidiary of the Lufthansa Group. Founded in 1996, it serves a network of domestic and European destinations and formerly also operated some long-hau ...
LH
* Iran Air
* LATAM Airlines
* LOT Polish Airlines
* Luxair
Luxair, legally ''Luxair S.A., Société Luxembourgeoise de Navigation Aérienne'', is the flag carrier airline of Luxembourg with its headquarters and hub at Luxembourg Airport. It operates scheduled services to destinations in Europe, North Af ...
* Scandinavian Airlines
Scandinavian Airlines, more commonly known and styled as SAS, is the flag carrier of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. ''SAS'' is an abbreviation of the company's full name, Scandinavian Airlines System or legally Scandinavian Airlines System Denmark ...
* Shenzhen Airlines
* Singapore Airlines
* South African Airways
* SunExpress
SunExpress, is a Turkish-German airline based in Antalya. SunExpress was founded in October 1989 as a joint venture between Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa. It operates scheduled and chartered passenger flights to 90 destinations in 30 countries ...
LH
* Swiss International Air Lines
Swiss International Air Lines AG, colloquially known as SWISS, is the flag carrier of Switzerland, operating scheduled services in Europe and to North America, South America, Africa and Asia. Zurich Airport serves as its sole hub and Geneva ...
LH
* TAP Air Portugal
* Thai Airways International
Thai Airways International Public Company Limited, trading as THAI (, th, บริษัท การบินไทย จำกัด (มหาชน)) is the flag carrier airline of Thailand. Formed in 1961, the airline has its corporate h ...
* Turkish Airlines
Turkish Airlines ( Turkish: ''Türk Hava Yolları'') is the national flag carrier airline of Turkey. , it operates scheduled services to 340 destinations in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas, making it the largest mainline carrier in the w ...
* United Airlines
United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois.
* Vistara
LH Part of the Lufthansa Group.
Fleet
Aircraft naming conventions
In September 1960, a Lufthansa Boeing 707 (D-ABOC), which would serve the Frankfurt-New York intercontinental route, was christened ''Berlin'' after the divided city of Berlin by then-mayor Willy Brandt. Following ''Berlin'', other Lufthansa 707 planes were named "Hamburg
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", "Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...
", "Munich, München", and "Bonn." With these names, the company established a tradition of Ship naming and launching, naming the planes in its fleet after German cities and towns or federal states, with a rule of thumb that the airplane make, size, or route would correspond roughly to the relative size or importance of the city or town it was named after.
This tradition continued, with two notable exceptions, until 2010: The first was an Airbus A340-300
The Airbus A340 is a long-haul, long-range, wide-body passenger airliner that was developed and produced by Airbus.
In the mid-1970s, Airbus conceived several derivatives of the Airbus A300, A300, its first airliner, and developed the A340 qu ...
registered D-AIFC, named "Gander/Halifax", after Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador, Gander and Halifax Regional Municipality, Halifax, two Canadian cities along the standard flight path from Europe to North America. It became the first Lufthansa airplane named after a non-German city. The name commemorates the hospitality of the communities of Gander and Halifax, which served as improvised safe havens for the passengers and crew of the multitude of international aircraft unable to return to their originating airports during Operation Yellow Ribbon after the September 11, 2001 attacks. The other aircraft not named after a German city was an Airbus A321-100 registered as D-AIRA, which was designated ''Finkenwerder'' in honor of the Airbus facility in the district of Finkenwerder, Hamburg-Finkenwerder,[lh-taufnamen.de - Lufthansa](_blank)
retrieved 20 June 2016 where about 40% of Airbus narrowbody models are manufactured.
In February 2010, Lufthansa announced that its first two Airbus A380
The Airbus A380 is a large wide-body airliner that was developed and produced by Airbus. It is the world's largest passenger airliner and only full-length double-deck jet airliner.
Airbus studies started in 1988, and the project was annou ...
s would be named ''Frankfurt am Main'' (D-AIMA) and ''München'' (D-AIMB) after Lufthansa's two hub airports. Subsequent A380 aircraft were named after other Lufthansa Group hub airports ''Zurich'', ''Wien'' (Vienna) and ''Brüssel'' (Brussels) and the major German cities of ''Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second- ...
'' and ''Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
''. The remaining A380s were named after Star Alliance
Star Alliance is the world's largest global airline alliance. Founded on 14 May 1997, its CEO is Jeffrey Goh and its headquarters is located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. , Star Alliance is the largest of the three global alliances by passenge ...
hub cities ''Tokyo'', ''Beijing'', ''Johannesburg'', ''New York'', ''San Francisco'' and ''Delhi''. However, D-AIMN ''San Francisco'' was renamed ''Deutschland'' (Germany) in 2016.
As of 2016, there are several short- and long-haul aircraft in Lufthansa's fleet that do not bear any name. They either never received one or their former one has been given to a newer aircraft, which was the case for several Boeing 747-400
The Boeing 747-400 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, an advanced variant of the initial Boeing 747.
The "Advanced Series 300" was announced at the September 1984 Farnborough Airshow, targeting ...
s. For example, the former ''Bayern'' (Bavaria), a Boeing 747-400 still in active service lost that name to a new Boeing 747-8
The Boeing 747-8 is a wide-body airliner formerly developed by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, and the largest variant of the 747.
After introducing the 747-400, Boeing considered larger 747 versions as alternatives to the proposed double-deck ...
I.
Vintage aircraft restoration
Lufthansa Technik
Lufthansa Technik AG ('Lufthansa Engineering', often referred to simply as “LHT”) provides worldwide maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) services for aircraft, engines, and components. It is a subsidiary of the Lufthansa Group.
Headquarte ...
, the airline's maintenance arm, restored a Junkers Ju 52/3m built in 1936 to airworthy, airworthiness; this aircraft was in use on the 10-hour Berlin to Rome route, across the Alps, in the 1930s. Lufthansa is now restoring a Lockheed Super Constellation, using parts from three such aircraft bought at auctions. Lufthansa's Super Constellations and L1649 "Starliners" served routes such as Hamburg
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-Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...
-Dakar-Caracas-Santiago, Chile, Santiago. Lufthansa Technik recruits retired employees and volunteers for skilled labour.
Airbus A380
Lufthansa had initially ordered a total of 15 Airbus A380-800, of which by June 2012 ten were delivered. In September 2011, the order was increased by two more to 17, this order was confirmed on 14 March 2013. However, in September 2013 it was announced that the Lufthansa Supervisory Board had approved the purchase of only twelve of the first 15 A380s. Thus, a total of 14 A380s have been added to the fleet.
Lufthansa uses its A380s from and to Frankfurt am Main (9 aircraft) and since March 2018 to and from Munich as well (5 aircraft). From 6 to 12 December 2011, Lufthansa already used an A380 once a day on the route from Munich to New York-JFK. This happened mainly against the backdrop of Christmas shopping in New York City.
On 13 March 2019, Lufthansa announced that it will be removing 6 A380 aircraft from the fleet and replacing them with Boeing 787-9 and Airbus A350-900 aircraft.
On December 2 2022, Lufthansa ungrounded one of its A380s. After 3 years in storage, D-AIMK a 9 year old Airbus A380-800 leaves storage. Its flight departs from Teruel Airport to Frankfurt Airport
Frankfurt Airport (; german: link=no, Flughafen Frankfurt Main , also known as ''Rhein-Main-Flughafen'') is a major international airport located in Frankfurt, the fifth-largest city of Germany and one of the world's leading financial centres ...
, Lufthansa’s main hub. The aircraft can’t retract its landing gear, so it flies slower and lower during the extended 3 hour flight. It should enter official service by summer of 2023.
On 8 March 2020, Lufthansa announced that it would be grounding all of its A380 aircraft due to the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
.
Lufthansa announced on 27 June 2022 that the remaining fleet of eight A380s will be reactivated and brought back into service for the 2023 summer season. The stronger than anticipated customer demand and quicker recovery of international travel from the pandemic is cited as one of two reasons. The other reason is the persistent delay of Boeing 777-9 delivery, which Lufthansa would not receive until 2025 or later. Lufthansa is still assessing how many and which A380 will be reactivated and which route the A380 will serve again.
Services
Frequent-flyer programme
Lufthansa's Frequent-flyer program, frequent-flyer programme is called ''Miles & More'', and is shared among several European airlines, including all of Lufthansa's subsidiary airlines (excluding the SunExpress
SunExpress, is a Turkish-German airline based in Antalya. SunExpress was founded in October 1989 as a joint venture between Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa. It operates scheduled and chartered passenger flights to 90 destinations in 30 countries ...
joint ventures), plus Condor Flugdienst, Condor (formerly owned by Lufthansa), Croatia Airlines, LOT Polish Airlines, and Luxair
Luxair, legally ''Luxair S.A., Société Luxembourgeoise de Navigation Aérienne'', is the flag carrier airline of Luxembourg with its headquarters and hub at Luxembourg Airport. It operates scheduled services to destinations in Europe, North Af ...
(previously part-owned by Lufthansa). Miles & More members may earn miles on Lufthansa flights and Star Alliance
Star Alliance is the world's largest global airline alliance. Founded on 14 May 1997, its CEO is Jeffrey Goh and its headquarters is located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. , Star Alliance is the largest of the three global alliances by passenge ...
partner flights, as well as through Lufthansa credit cards, and purchases made through the Lufthansa shops. Status within Miles & More is determined by miles flown during one calendar year with specific partners. Membership levels include: Miles & More member (no minimal threshold), Frequent Traveller (Silver, threshold or 30 individual flights), Senator (Gold, threshold), and HON Circle (Black, threshold over two calendar years). All Miles & More status levels higher than Miles & More member offer lounge access and executive bonus miles, with the higher levels offering more exclusive benefits.
Cabins
First Class
First Class is offered on most long-haul aircraft (all Airbus A340-600s, the front part of the upper deck of all Airbus A380s, and the nose of the main deck of all Boeing 747-8Is). Each seat converts to a bed, includes laptop power outlets, as well as entertainment facilities. Meals are available on demand. Lufthansa offers dedicated First Class check-in counters at most airports, and offers dedicated First Class lounges in Frankfurt Airport, Frankfurt and Munich Airport, Munich, as well as a dedicated first-class terminal in Frankfurt. Arriving passengers have the option of using Lufthansa's First Class arrival facilities, as well as the new Welcome Lounge. Lufthansa introduced a new First Class product aboard the Airbus A380 and planned to gradually introduce it on all of its long-haul aircraft. However, with the new program SCORE, introduced to boost profits by 1.5 billion euros over the following years, Lufthansa halted route expansion and extensively decreased its First Class offerings on most routes. In 2017 the airline announced that its first few 777-9, Boeing 777-9s would not include First Class seats, however, First Class could be installed on later deliveries. the only remaining First Class seats Lufthansa offered were on its Boeing 747-8Is, with 10 A350-900, Airbus A350-900s with First Class seats
Business Class
Business Class is offered on all long-haul aircraft. Seats convert to lie-flat beds and include laptop power outlets and entertainment facilities. Lufthansa offers dedicated Business Class check-in counters at all airports, as well as dedicated Business Class lounges at most airports, or contract lounges at other airports, as well as the Lufthansa Welcome Lounge upon arrival in Frankfurt. As of 2014, Business Class on all wide-body aircraft feature lie-flat seats. Lufthansa released plans for a new business class set to be released in 2022 on the Boeing 787-9, and will retrofit the rest of the fleet in the coming years.
Premium Economy
Introduced in 2014, Lufthansa's long-haul Premium Economy was rolled out on all long-haul aircraft, starting with some Boeing 747-8Is. Similar in design to Air Canada
Air Canada is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Canada by the size and passengers carried. Air Canada maintains its headquarters in the borough of Saint-Laurent, Montreal, Quebec. The airline, founded in 1937, provides scheduled and ...
's Premium Economy or British Airways
British Airways (BA) is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a populati ...
' World Traveller Plus cabins, Premium Economy features pitch along with up to more width than economy class, depending on the aircraft. The seats also feature a personal seat-back entertainment screen and a larger armrest separating seats. Along with the planned introduction of the Boeing 777-9X, the airline plans to add a new Premium Economy cabin with a "shell" design. These seats are also to be installed on SWISS' Boeing 777-300ERs and Airbus A340-300s from the first and second quarter of 2021, respectively.
Economy Class
Lufthansa's long-haul Economy Class is offered on all long-haul aircraft. All have a seat pitch except the Airbus A380s, which have a seat pitch. Passengers receive meals, as well as free drinks. The whole fleet offers Audio-Video-On-Demand (AVOD) screens in Economy Class.
Airport lounges and terminals
Lufthansa operates four types of lounges within its destination network: First Class, Senator, Business, and Welcome Lounges. Each departure lounge is accessible both through travel class, or Miles and More/Star Alliance status; the Welcome Lounge is limited to arriving premium passengers of the Lufthansa Group and United Airlines only.
Lufthansa also operates a dedicated first class terminal at Frankfurt Airport. The first terminal of its kind, access is limited only to departing Lufthansa First Class, same day Lufthansa Group first class and HON Circle members. Approximately 200 staff care for approximately 300 passengers per day in the terminal, which features a full-service restaurant, full bar, cigar lounge, relaxation rooms, and offices, as well as bath facilities. Guests are driven directly to their departing flight by Mercedes Mercedes-Benz S-Class, S-Class or Mercedes-Benz V-Class, V-Class, or Porsche Porsche Cayenne, Cayenne or Porsche Panamera, Panamera vehicles.
Bus service
A bus service from Nuremberg Airport to Munich Airport
Munich International Airport- Franz Josef Strauß (german: link=no, Flughafen München) is an international airport serving Munich and Upper Bavaria. It is the second-busiest airport in Germany in terms of passenger traffic after Frankfurt A ...
was reinstated in 2021 to replace short-haul flights between both cities. Lufthansa operated a check-in point in Nuremberg and a bus service from Nuremberg to Munich Airport
Munich International Airport- Franz Josef Strauß (german: link=no, Flughafen München) is an international airport serving Munich and Upper Bavaria. It is the second-busiest airport in Germany in terms of passenger traffic after Frankfurt A ...
in the late 1990s.
Accidents and incidents
This is a list of accidents and incidents involving Lufthansa mainline aircraft since 1956. For earlier occurrences, refer to Hestnutan Accident, Deutsche Luft Hansa. For accidents and incidents on Lufthansa-branded flights which were operated by other airlines, see the respective articles (Lufthansa CityLine#Accidents and incidents, Lufthansa CityLine, Lufthansa Cargo#Accidents and incidents, Lufthansa Cargo, Lufthansa Flight 288, Contact Air, Germanwings#Incidents and accidents, Germanwings, and Air Dolomiti#Accidents and incidents, Air Dolomiti).
Fatal
* On 11 January 1959, Lufthansa Flight 502, a Lufthansa Lockheed Super Constellation (aircraft registration, registered D-ALAK) crashed onto a beach shortly off Rio de Janeiro-Galeão International Airport, Galeão Airport in Rio de Janeiro following a scheduled passenger flight from Hamburg
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, Germany. Of the 29 passengers and 10 crew members on board, only the co-pilot and 2 flight attendants survived. The investigation into the accident resulted in blaming the pilots for having executed a too low approach, which may have been caused by fatigue.
* On 4 December 1961, a Lufthansa Boeing 720
The Boeing 720 is an American narrow-body airliner produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
Announced in July 1957 as a 707 derivative for shorter flights from shorter runways, the 720 first flew on November 23, 1959.
Its type certificate was ...
(registered D-ABOK) crashed of unknown causes near Mainz during a training flight from Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...
to Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...
, killing the three occupants. It was the first crash involving an aircraft of that type.
* On 15 July 1964, another Boeing 720 (registered D-ABOP) crashed during a training flight, with the three people, including Werner Baake, on board losing their lives (in what was only the second crash for this aircraft type). The accident occurred near Ansbach after the pilots had lost control of the aircraft when executing an aileron roll.
* On 28 January 1966 at 17:50 local time, Lufthansa Flight 005 from Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...
to Bremen, which was operated using a Convair CV-240 family, Convair CV-440 Metropolitan registered D-ACAT, crashed short of Bremen Airport, killing all 42 passengers and 4 crew members on board. The pilots had tried to execute a go-around when approaching the airport, during which the aircraft Stall (flight), stalled and went out of control, possibly due to pilot error.
*
On 20 November 1974 at 07:54 local time, Lufthansa Flight 540, a Boeing 747, Boeing 747-100 (registered D-ABYB), lost power and crashed shortly after take-off at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in what was the first air accident involving a Boeing 747. 55 out of the 140 passengers and 4 out of the 17 crew lost their lives, making it the worst accident in the history of the airline.
* On 26 July 1979 at 21:32 Universal Time Coordinated, UTC, a cargo-configured Boeing 707 (registered D-ABUY) that was en route Lufthansa Flight 527 from Rio de Janeiro to Dakar and onwards to Germany crashed into a mountain from Rio de Janeiro-Galeão International Airport, Galeão Airport during initial climb, killing the three crew members on board. A flawed communication between the pilots and the air traffic controller had resulted in the aircraft flying on a wrong path.
* In January 1984, a woman was found dead in a suitcase which was lying on an LAXbaggage carousel for a while. The suitcase had arrived on a Lufthansa flight. The woman was later discovered to have been an Iranian citizen who had recently married another Iranian with UGreen card status. She had been denied a US visa in West Germany and therefore decided to enter the US like this.
* On 14 September 1993, Lufthansa Flight 2904, an Airbus A320 family, Airbus A320-200 (registered D-AIPN) flying from Frankfurt to Warsaw with 64 passengers and 4 crew members on board, overran the runway upon landing at Warsaw Chopin Airport, Warsaw-Okecie Airport, and crashed into an earth embankment, resulting in the death of the co-pilot and one passenger.
* On May 28, 1999, Bundesgrenzschutz, German border police suffocated to death Aamir Ageeb, whom they were escorting aboard Lufthansa Flight 588 from Frankfurt to Cairo. During takeoff, the officers restrained and pinned down Ageeb, a Sudanese man deported from Germany after being rejected for asylum. The aircraft made an emergency landing in Munich. The incident led to the Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community, German interior ministry suspending its policy of forcible air deportation, and contributed to protests over Lufthansa's role in transporting deported asylum seekers.
Non-fatal
* On 20 December 1973 at 00:33 local time, a Lufthansa Boeing 707 (registered D-ABOT) with 98 passengers and 11 crew members on board collided with a Marker beacon, middle marker shack upon approaching Indira Gandhi International Airport, Palam Airport in Delhi following a scheduled passenger flight from Bangkok
Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populati ...
(as part of a multi-leg flight back to Germany). There were no injuries, but the aircraft was damaged beyond repair. Visibility was poor at the time of the accident.
* On 18 October 1983, a Boeing 747-200 freighter ran off the runway at Kai Tak Airport, Kai Tak airport in Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
and got bogged in the grass after an engine failure during take-off.
* On 11 June 2018, one of the airline's Airbus A340-300s, registered as D-AIFA, was being towed to its departure gate at Frankfurt Airport when the towing vehicle caught fire. Despite the quick action of the airport fire brigade, the aircraft suffered substantial fire and smoke damage to the nose and flight deck. Six people were treated for smoke inhalation.
Hijackings and criminal events
* In 1972, the year of the 1972 Summer Olympics, Munich Summer Olympics, there were four reported hijackings involving Lufthansa aircraft:
** On 22 February, Lufthansa Flight 649, Flight 649, a Boeing 747-200 (registered D-ABYD) with 172 passengers and 15 crew members on board was hijacked en route from New Delhi to Athens (as part of a multi-leg flight from Tokyo to Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...
) by five Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terrorists who then pressed for a $5 million ransom from the German government. The aircraft landed at Aden International Airport, and the hostages were released on the following day once the demands of the perpetrators were accepted.
** On 10 July, a similar hijacking attempt occurred on board a Lufthansa Boeing 737-100 during a flight from Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...
to Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...
.
** 11 October a Boeing 727
The Boeing 727 is an American narrow-body airliner that was developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
After the heavy 707 quad-jet was introduced in 1958, Boeing addressed the demand for shorter flight lengths from smaller airpo ...
was hijacked on a flight from Lisbon to Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...
. Upon landing at Frankfurt Airport
Frankfurt Airport (; german: link=no, Flughafen Frankfurt Main , also known as ''Rhein-Main-Flughafen'') is a major international airport located in Frankfurt, the fifth-largest city of Germany and one of the world's leading financial centres ...
, the perpetrator tried to flee but was captured by police forces.
** On 29 October, two men hijacked Lufthansa Flight 615, Flight 615 with 11 other passengers and 7 crew members on board during a flight from Beirut to Ankara (and onwards to Germany), in order to liberate the three surviving members of the Black September (group), Black September group responsible for the Munich massacre. Whilst the hijacked Boeing 727
The Boeing 727 is an American narrow-body airliner that was developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
After the heavy 707 quad-jet was introduced in 1958, Boeing addressed the demand for shorter flight lengths from smaller airpo ...
(registered D-ABIG) was forced to circle over Zagreb Airport in danger of eventual fuel starvation, the West German authorities decided to comply with the demands. The prisoners were handed over and the aircraft was allowed to be flown to Tripoli, Libya, Tripoli, where the hostages were released.
* On 17 December 1973, in the wake of the events surrounding Pan Am Flight 110, a parked Lufthansa Boeing 737, Boeing 737-100 (registered D-ABEY) was hijacked at Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport in Rome. 10 Italian hostages that had been taken by Palestinian territories, Palestinian terrorists at the airport were forced into the aircraft by 5 perpetrators, and the German crew (2 pilots and 2 flight attendants) that was on board preparing the departure to Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...
had to fly the aircraft instead first to Athens and then to several other airports until the ordeal ended at Kuwait International Airport the next day, where the hijackers surrendered.
* On 28 June 1977, a Lufthansa Boeing 727
The Boeing 727 is an American narrow-body airliner that was developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
After the heavy 707 quad-jet was introduced in 1958, Boeing addressed the demand for shorter flight lengths from smaller airpo ...
was hijacked during a flight from Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...
to Istanbul and forced to divert to Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...
.
* The Lufthansa Flight 181, Hijacking of the Landshut occurred on 13 October 1977, at a time when West Germany had come under intense terroristic pressure known as German Autumn. The Boeing 737, Boeing 737-200 (registered D-ABCE) was hijacked en route Flight 181 from Palma de Mallorca to Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...
by 4 terrorists of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, who thus wanted to force the German government to release several Red Army Faction, RAF terrorists. The crew had to divert the aircraft with 87 other passengers first to Rome, and then onwards to Larnaca, Bahrain, Dubai, Aden (where the captain was killed when he returned to the aircraft after negotiations with the local authorities), and finally to Mogadishu in an ordeal that took several days. At Aden Adde International Airport, Mogadishu Airport, the German GSG 9 special forces stormed the aircraft in the early hours of 18 October local time, killing 3 terrorists and freeing all hostages.
*On December 11, 1978, Lufthansa was the victim of a major heist (robbery) at John F. Kennedy International Airport. The Lufthansa heist led to Lufthansa losing about $5 million American Dollars.
* On 12 September 1979, a hijacking attempt occurred on board a Lufthansa Boeing 727 on a flight from Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...
to Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...
, but the perpetrator quickly surrendered.
* Three hijackings occurred in due course in early 1985:
** On 27 February, a Boeing 727 was hijacked en route a Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt to Damascus. Two perpetrators forced the pilots to divert the aircraft (with 35 other passengers on board) to Vienna International Airport
Vienna International Airport (german: Flughafen Wien-Schwechat; ) is the international airport of Vienna, the capital of Austria, located in Schwechat, southeast of central Vienna and west of Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. It is the co ...
, where they surrendered.
** On 27 March, another 727 was hijacked, this time on a flight from Munich to Athens. A man demanded the pilots to divert to Libya. During a fuel stop at Istanbul, the aircraft was stormed and the perpetrator arrested.
** Only two days later, a mentally ill person on board a Lufthansa Boeing 737, Boeing 737-200 on a flight from Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
to London demanded to be taken to Hawaii instead.
* On 11 February 1993, Lufthansa Flight 592 from Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...
to Addis Ababa via Cairo with 94 passengers and 10 crew members was hijacked during the first leg by 20-year-old Nebiu Zewolde Demeke, who forced the pilots to divert the Airbus A310
The Airbus A310 is a wide-body aircraft, designed and manufactured by Airbus Industrie, then a consortium of European aerospace manufacturers.
Airbus had identified a demand for an aircraft smaller than the A300, the first twin-jet wide-bod ...
(registered D-AIDM) to the United States, with the intent of securing the right of asylum there. Demeke, who had been on the flight to be deportation, deported back to his native Ethiopia, surrendered to authorities upon arrival at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City. No passengers or crew members were harmed during the 12-hour ordeal.
Criticism
Employment relations
Relations between Lufthansa and their pilots have been very tense in the past years, with many strikes occurring, causing many flights to be cancelled, as well as major losses to the company. A major dispute between Lufthansa and the pilot's union has been settled after nearly five years and overall 14 strikes in December 2017. Without taking into account the €9 billion bailout from the German government, Lufthansa cut 31,000 jobs in the COVID19 years. During the 2022 collective bargaining, ver.di said that Lufthansa's wage offer meant real wage losses for employees and called on around 20,000 ground workers in Germany to go on warning strikes.
Germanwings crisis management
Germanwings was a subsidiary of Lufthansa. Carsten Spohr, Lufthansa's CEO, oversaw the Germanwings Flight 9525 incident, "the darkest day for Lufthansa in its 60-year history", when pilot Andreas Lubitz intentionally flew an aircraft into a mountain, murdering 149 passengers.
Nonetheless, damage control by Spohr and his team was poor according to several sources, as compared to other CEOs in the face of a major accident, with contradictory information given about the mental health and the airworthiness of the co-pilot Andreas Lubitz. It was revealed that Lubitz suffered from a severe case of depression and mental disorders and had intentionally crashed Germanwings Flight 9525 into the French Alps, killing all 150 aboard. Spohr had misleadingly said the co-pilot "was 100% airworthy without any restrictions, without any conditions".
GDS surcharge
On 1 September 2015, Lufthansa implemented a 16 euro surcharge on Global Distribution System bookings. The surcharge is payable unless tickets are purchased directly from the airline's website, or at its service centres and ticket counters at the airport. In a statement responding to Lufthansa's strategy, Amadeus, a travel technology company, said the new model would make "comparison and transparency more difficult because travellers will now be forced to go to multiple channels to search for the best fares. For the period between 1–14 September, the airline experienced a 16.1% drop in revenue, indicating to some that the new fee backfired, although the airline maintains the statement that the decrease was due to the pilot strike, and "other seasonal effects".
Deportation flights
Pro-migration activists from Germany have criticised Lufthansa for performing deportation flights on behalf of the German government. In 2019, 4,573 people were deported on their planes, while their subsidiary Eurowings performed 1,312 deportations. This totals more than 25% of deportations in Germany in 2019. At least two deportees perished during transport.
Treatment of Nazi-era past
Lufthansa has been criticized for lack of transparency about the use of more than 10,000 Forced labour under German rule during World War II, forced laborers, many of them children, by its predecessor company, Deutsche Luft Hansa, during World War II.
Ghost flights
Lufthansa operated 18,000 empty or near-empty flights in winter 2021–2022 to avoid losing take-off and landing rights at major airports.
Alleged collective punishment of visibly Jewish passengers
In 2022, the company allegedly engaged in collective punishment of visibly Jewish passengers. After a small minority of Jewish passengers did not comply with Face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic, COVID masking rules on a flight from New York to Frankfurt, the company barred over a hundred visibly Jewish passengers from a connecting flight to Budapest. Lufthansa called in dozens of armed Federal Police (Germany), federal police to enforce its policy. A supervisor from Lufthansa explained to passengers that "everyone has to pay for a couple" as "It's Jews coming from JFK. Jewish people who were the mess, who made the problems." The video of Lufthansa supervisor's statement has been compared to the treatment of Jews during the Holocaust. Lufthansa confirmed that it barred a group of passengers from the flight.
German police reacted with rage when passengers asked "why do you hate us?" and used the word Nazi. The German Federal Police confirmed they were called to "presence" at the scene, and in response to later questions said that "Lufthansa called us and said that some of this group from JFK were not following the rules" and that they "did not make any decision at all about who could fly and who could not. As the police even if we did think that their decision was discriminatory, as the police we can’t then make the decision about who can and who cannot fly."
The American Jewish Committee stated that "Banning ALL Jews from a flight because of an alleged mask violation by some Jewish passengers is textbook antisemitism from Lufthansa". German MP Marlene Schönberger said that if the reports are true, then "there must be consequences" as "Excluding Jews from a flight because they were recognizable as Jewish is a scandal. I expect German companies in particular to be aware of anti-Semitism."
Lufthansa denied its actions were antisemitic saying that "We consider the claim of anti-Semitism to be unwarranted and without merit". Lufthansa later said it wishes to investigate the incident internally. Lufthansa was condemned by US envoy Deborah Lipstadt who described Lufthansa's anti-Semitism as "unbelievable", and stated that her office was in contact with the German government over the incident that involved US citizens.
In August 2022, as a result of the incident, Lufthansa adopted the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism and appointed a senior manager to prevent antisemitism and discrimination.
See also
* Aviation in Germany, Air transport in Germany
* List of airlines of Germany
References
Footnotes
Citations
Bibliography
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External links
Official website
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{{Authority control
Lufthansa,
Lufthansa Group
Airlines established in 1953
1953 establishments in West Germany
Airlines of Germany
Association of European Airlines members
Companies listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange
Multinational companies headquartered in Germany
Companies based in Cologne
German brands
Star Alliance
German companies established in 1953
Antisemitism in Germany