Airbus A320neo operated by Lufthansa CityLine.
Copyright Photo: Lufthansa – Lufthansa CityLine Airbus A320-271N WL D-AIJN (msn 11672) LHR (Wingnut). Image: 962209.
Lufthansa CityLine aircraft photo gallery:
Wiesbaden has a new flying ambassador. The fifth Boeing 787-9 in the Lufthansa fleet, with the registration D-ABPB, was named today at Frankfurt Airport by Hesse’s Prime Minister Boris Rhein in the name of the state capital. Since May 22 it has been in service to destinations in Canada and the USA. Its first destination with passengers on board was Dallas in Texas. The D-ABPB is the fifth aircraft in total to carry the name “Wiesbaden” around the world.
The “Papa Bravo” was already transferred from its production facility in Everett in the USA to Germany on March 31, 2023. Since then, the Dreamliner was initially operated up to three times a day between Frankfurt and Munich. This allowed the necessary training flights to be completed and as many crews as possible to be trained.
There is a long tradition of aircraft bearing the name of the Hessian capital. The Boeing 787-9 is already the fifth Lufthansa aircraft with the name “Wiesbaden. On July 15, 1964, the then Lord Mayor Georg Buch named a Boeing 727 with the name of the spa city for the first time at Wiesbaden-Erbenheim Airport.
The predecessor of the Boeing 787-9 with the name “Wiesbaden” was an Airbus A340, which was named in the name of the state capital in the summer of 2009 and decommissioned during the pandemic.
Deutsche Lufthansa AG on May 25 reached an agreement with the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance (Ministero dell’Economia e delle Finanze, MEF) to acquire a minority stake in the Italian national carrier ITA Airways (Italia Trasporto Aereo S.p.A.). Lufthansa will obtain a 41 percent stake in ITA for EUR 325m through a capital increase.
The capital contribution thus directly benefits the company. As part of the agreement, the MEF has also committed to a capital increase of EUR 250m into ITA. In addition, the MEF and Lufthansa agreed on options to enable a potential acquisition of the remaining shares by Lufthansa at a later date. The purchase price for the remaining shares will be based on the business development of ITA Airways.
The contractual finalization of the agreement is expected to be completed shortly. The acquisition of the minority stake is subject to approval by the relevant authorities. Upon closing of this transaction, ITA Airways and Lufthansa Group are expected to immediately start their cooperation at a commercial and operational level. As a network airline, ITA will closely cooperate with Lufthansa Group to benefit from group synergies.
ITA Airways will become the fifth network carrier in Lufthansa Group’s multi-brand and multi-hub system. Italy represents the most important market outside the Group’s home base countries and the United States. Italy is the third-largest economy in the EU in terms of gross domestic product, with a strong export-oriented economy. This is one among many reasons why business travel to and from Italy is important. For private travelers, the Mediterranean country is one of the most popular leisure destinations in the world.
Carsten Spohr, Chief Executive Officer of Deutsche Lufthansa AG says: “Today’s agreement will lead to a win-win situation for Italy, ITA Airways and Lufthansa Group. And it is good news for Italian consumers and for Europe, because a stronger ITA will invigorate competition in the Italian market. As a young company with a modern fleet, and with its efficient and expanding hub in Rome, ITA is a perfect fit for Lufthansa Group. In Milan, ITA serves a strong catchment area which also offers potential for growth. As part of the Lufthansa Group family, ITA can develop into a sustainable and profitable airline, connecting Italy with Europe and the world. At the same time, this investment will enable us to continue our growth in one of our most important markets.”
ITA Airways was founded in November 2020 and has approximately 4,000 employees today. Headquartered in Rome, the airline welcomes more than 10 million passengers per year and is running a modern fleet of 66 Airbus aircraft. The hub in Rome is ideally situated to further diversify ITA’s network towards Africa and Latin America, offering its customers an improved connectivity to the Southern hemisphere. Currently, ITA serves 64 destinations: 21 domestic, 33 international and 10 intercontinental routes.
As part of Lufthansa Group, ITA will remain a standalone airline with its own management and a strong brand identity – in line with Lufthansa Group’s successful multi-hub, multi-brand and multi-AOC strategy. At the same time, ITA can benefit from synergies of the Group, such as access to the partner network, central revenue management and the use of Lufthansa Group’s global sales and marketing channels.
To ensure that ITA’s growth is sustainable, Lufthansa Group intends to extend the intermodal transport for feeder traffic within Italy. For this purpose, Lufthansa Group has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Italian state railroad company Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane S.p.A. last February. The aim of the partnership is to increasingly transport passengers in Italy with rail connections to and from their respective flight connections at various Italian airports. Lufthansa Group already operates similar intermodal cooperation programs in its home markets, including Deutsche Bahn, Austrian ÖBB and Swiss Federal Railways.
The delivery to Lufthansa of its first Airbus A300B2 on February 9, 1976 laid the foundation for a strong partnership within European civil aviation that has now extended almost 50 years. With more than ten different Airbus aircraft types supplied since then to almost every air operator in the Lufthansa Group, today saw the 600th such aircraft – an Airbus A321neo – handed over to Lufthansa in a formal ceremony at Airbus’s Hamburg-Finkenwerder site.
Lufthansa signed its first purchase agreement with Airbus for three A300B2s in 1975 and received its first such aircraft from Europe’s new manufacturer seven months later on February 9, 1976. Subsequent years saw the first deliveries of further Airbus types: the A310 in 1983, followed by the A300-600 in 1987. The first Airbus A320 to join the Lufthansa fleet was delivered in October 1989. Over 370 aircraft of the A320 family are in service today with the various airlines of the Lufthansa Group. The first A340 followed in 1993; and just one year later the Lufthansa Airbus fleet passed the 100-aircraft mark. The A330 followed in 2004; and in 2010 the A380 – the world’s largest passenger aircraft – joined the Lufthansa long-haul fleet.
Lufthansa has also served as launching customer for a new Airbus type on four occasions to date: for the A310, the A340, the A220 and – in 2016 –A320neo. Not only the Airbus A320 family is a cornerstone of today’s Lufthansa fleet: the A350-900, which first arrived in 2016, has also become a key component in the Lufthansa long-haul fleet, and the Lufthansa Group is the world’s third-biggest A350 customer.
The 600th Airbus aircraft to be delivered to Lufthansa, which bears the registration D-AIEQ, is an Airbus A321neo. Seating 215 passengers, the A321neo is a state-of-the-art and fuel-efficient short- and medium-haul twinjet that has been in Lufthansa service since 2019. D-AIEQ has been named ‘Münster’ after the German city.
Lufthansa and Airbus attach particular importance to their collaborations on the sustainability and the research & development fronts. Over the last three decades, the Lufthansa Group has equipped several of its long-haul Airbus aircraft with instruments to conduct climate and weather research. In addition to three such Airbus jets that are presently gathering climate-related data for scientific purposes, Lufthansa is also working with the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology on a world-first project to convert a Lufthansa Airbus A350-900 into a research aircraft.
Lufthansa performed its longest non-stop flight to date in 2021 when it flew one of its Airbus A350-900s from Hamburg to Mount Pleasant on the Falkland Islands on behalf of the Alfred Wegener Institute. The same year also saw a Lufthansa A350-900 converted into a climate research aircraft for the CARIBIC Project.
Back in 2011 Lufthansa was the first airline to trial biofuel in its daily flight operations. For some six months, a Lufthansa Airbus A321 was operated on the Hamburg-Frankfurt route with one of its two engines powered with a fuel blend consisting 50% of biosynthetic kerosene. In the same year Lufthansa teamed up with the Forschungszentrum Jülich to conduct a new type of long-term climate research study using scheduled air services to monitor the Earth’s atmosphere. As part of this IAGOS research project, specially developed instruments were installed aboard a Lufthansa Airbus A340-300 to collect trace elements from the atmosphere in the course of the aircraft’s regular flight operations.
The Lufthansa Group purchases four additional ultra-modern Airbus A350-900 long-haul aircraft. The aircraft will be acquired from Deucalion Aviation Limited and delivered to the Group still this year.
Lufthansa currently operates 21 Airbus A350-900s and has ordered five more A350-900s and ten A350-1000s as recently as March 2023. In total, Lufthansa holds 38 firm orders for this highly efficient Airbus long-haul aircraft, making it the world’s third-largest Airbus A350 customer.
For nearly two years, Lufthansa has offered its passengers on cross-border European flights lasting more than an hour a varied, high-quality range of fresh meals, packaged snacks and drinks for purchase. The fresh meals, such as salads, bowls and sandwiches, are prepared fresh daily by catering company Gate Gourmet according to recipes from dean&david at the Frankfurt and Munich locations. Cake specialties from Dallmayr are also offered. Because they are deliberately prepared without colorants or preservatives, they have a short shelf life and must be disposed of if they are not sold on the designated flights.
Now Lufthansa is launching the “Onboard Delights Last Minute” initiative: passengers have the opportunity to purchase fresh products that have not been sold by then shortly before landing on all flights to Frankfurt and Munich on which Onboard Delights are offered, at the lower price of a uniform 3.50 euros, and take them with them. This is a further step toward reducing food waste, after Lufthansa already introduced the option of pre-ordering these products in February of this year.
Another new feature of Lufthansa Onboard Delights is that award miles can be collected and redeemed when purchasing food and beverages from the Onboard Delights range. At least one award mile is credited per euro when the Miles & More card is presented.
Sustainability is one of the Lufthansa Group’s top priorities. On short-haul flights, the amount of food waste is to be reduced by 50 percent by 2025 compared to 2019. To achieve this, the Lufthansa Group is optimizing catering processes, offering passengers the opportunity to order meals in advance, and reducing the amount of products held in stock as standard. As a result, Lufthansa was already able to reduce the proportion of discarded perishable food by 45 percent in 2022 compared to the previous year.
Austrian, SWISS and Eurowings have already been offering unsold food at reduced prices since 2022. As a result, about 80,000 food products were consumed in 2022 that would otherwise have been disposed of.
Lufthansa is launching new Airbus A380 destinations from Munich in the coming winter. From October 5 on, the airline will be flying again an A380 daily to the Californian metropolis of Los Angeles. Shortly before the start of the winter flight schedule on October 28, there will be a special premiere: For the first time, a Lufthansa Airbus A380 will take off from Munich to the Thai capital Bangkok, increasing the seat capacity by almost 75 percent compared to the A350. Lufthansa offers a greater premium product on this connection than ever before: the A380 offers 8 seats in First Class, 78 seats in Business Class and 52 seats in Premium Economy.
Lufthansa is expanding its service to India. The new destination from Munich is Bangalore, which, in addition to Delhi and Bombay, will be served by an Airbus A350. LH764 departs Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 12:10 p.m. to the southern Indian metropolis. Lufthansa guests will be able to enjoy one of the Lufthansa Group’s most modern and economical long-haul aircraft, the Airbus A350-900. After a longer break, Lufthansa will also include again Hyderabad in its flight schedule from Frankfurt. This will once again provide a direct connection from Germany to India’s pharmaceutical and high-tech industries. Lufthansa will announce further details in midMay.
Lufthansa will offer a total of five destinations to the Indian subcontinent from its two hubs in Frankfurt and Munich in the coming winter.
Top Copyright Photo: Lufthansa Airbus A380-841 D-AIMC (msn 044) LAX (Michael B. Ing). Image: 948759.
Lufthansa aircraft photo gallery:
In a globally unique project, the Lufthansa Group and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) are currently converting the Lufthansa Airbus A350-900 “Erfurt” (registration D-AIXJ) into a flying research laboratory. Now, an essential project milestone could be reached: For the first time, experts from the Lufthansa Group have attached the measuring probe system developed especially for the project to the lower fuselage of the A350 and successfully tested it in flight. Lufthansa pilots completed a flight program coordinated with the certification authorities in the airspace over southern Germany. The measuring system now being tested on the aircraft is the most complex of its kind and, in addition to the air inlet function, has sensors for high-frequency and -precision measurement of pressure and temperature. From 2024, the Airbus will collect comprehensive climate data during regular passenger flights for the European research infrastructure IAGOS-CARIBIC.
“We want to make flying more sustainable. That is why we have been supporting climate research for decades. The conversion of our Lufthansa Airbus A350 into a climate research aircraft is a globally unique project in which colleagues from a wide variety of areas at Lufthansa have been working together with partners in science for years. Our aim is to make a valuable contribution to climate research. The data that our aircraft will collect worldwide in the future will help to improve today’s atmospheric and climate models and thus their informative value for the future climate on earth,” says Jens Ritter, CEO Lufthansa Airlines.
Over the next few months, a measurement laboratory weighing around two tons and specially developed for the project will be set up. Some 20 measuring instruments will be installed in the laboratory, which will later be loaded into the cargo hold as a cargo container and connected to the measuring system on the outer fuselage of the aircraft. Next year, this high-tech laboratory will take off for the first time and collect climate data on selected flights in Lufthansa’s worldwide scheduled operations. The laboratory continuously records more than 100 different trace gases, aerosol, and cloud parameters from the ground to the tropopause region at an altitude of nine to thirteen kilometers. What makes it special: Climate-relevant parameters can be recorded at this altitude with significantly higher accuracy and temporal resolution on board the aircraft than would be possible with satellite- or ground-based measurement systems.
“IAGOS-CARIBC helps to close an essential gap in our understanding of the climate system. With the high-precision measurements of many parameters, we can understand which atmospheric processes are changing and how in climate change, in an altitude region where most of the atmospheric radiation budget, i.e., the greenhouse effect, is generated and changed. We can thus identify process-specific errors and their causes in climate models and subsequently improve their predictive capabilities,” says Dr Andreas Zahn of KIT and coordinator of IAGOS-CARIBIC. “We are extremely grateful for Lufthansa’s great commitment and support.”
The conversion of the A350 “Erfurt” into a research laboratory was preceded by a planning and development phase lasting several years. In addition to the Lufthansa Group and KIT, six other companies (Lufthansa Technik, Airbus, Safran, enviscope, Dynatec, and ACC COLUMBIA Jet Service) are involved in the IAGOS-CARIBIC project. The KIT also acts as coordinator of a scientific consortium of currently twelve research institutions in Europe and the USA, whose complex measuring instruments will explore the atmosphere in the flying research laboratory. The abbreviation IAGOS stands for “In-service Aircraft for a Global Observing System” and CARIBIC for “Civil Aircraft for the Regular Investigation of the atmosphere Based on an Instrument Container”.
The Lufthansa Group has been committed to climate and weather research for almost 30 years now and has equipped several aircraft with measuring instruments since then. From December 2004 to 2020, a Lufthansa Airbus A340-600 (registration D-AIHE) has already completed around 500 measurement flights in the service of climate and atmospheric research as part of the CARIBIC project.
Top Copyright Photo: Lufthansa Airbus A350-941 D-AIXJ (msn 209) LAX (Michael B. Ing). Image: 957622.
Lufthansa aircraft photo gallery:
Today, the first reactivated Lufthansa Airbus A380 D-AIMK was transferred from Frankfurt to Munich.
From there, it will start flight operations in June. First stop: Boston.
Lufthansa has announced it will reactivate the Airbus A380 on two routes from the Munich hub.
The Munich – Boston will see the Airbus A380 on June 1, 2023.
The Munich – New York-JFK route will follow on July 4, 2023.
The airline issued this statement:
From June 1, Lufthansa will resume its regular flight operations with the popular Airbus A380 after a three-year interruption. Daily flights from Munich to Boston will be operated by LH424. Just in time for Independence Day, the U.S. national holiday, an A380 with the flight number LH410 will take off daily for New York to John F. Kennedy International Airport from July 4, 2023. The airline is thus noticeably expanding its premium offering at its southern hub, especially with additional seats in Business and First Class.
With 509 seats, the A380 has around 80 percent more capacity than the Airbus A340-600 currently flying on the Munich-New York (JFK) route. In total, the A380 offers four classes of travel: 8 seats in First Class, 78 seats in Business Class, 52 seats in Premium Eco and 371 seats in Economy Class.
By the end of 2023, a total of four A380 aircraft will again be deployed from Munich.
Top Copyright Photo: Lufthansa Airbus A380-841 D-AIMG (msn 069) MUC (Arnd Wolf). Image: 945768.
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At least seven passengers and a flight attendant on board a flight from Austin to Frankfurt were hospitalized in the Washington D.C. area after they experienced turbulence on an Airbus A330 at 37,000 over Tennessee.
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The Lufthansa Group is purchasing more state-of-the-art long-haul aircraft. The Group Executive Board has resolved to order
The orders were approved today by the Supervisory Board of parent company Deutsche Lufthansa AG. The aircraft concerned will be delivered to the Lufthansa Group from the mid-2020s onwards. Based on list prices, the order is worth a total of about 7.5 billion US dollars and is in line with Group’s mid-term financial planning.
The Lufthansa Group is also in advanced negotiations to acquire further long-haul aircraft which could be made available at shorter notice.
With today’s orders included, the Lufthansa Group will take delivery of 108 state-of-the-art long-haul aircraft such as the Airbus A350-1000, the Airbus A350-900, the Boeing 787-9 and the Boeing 777-9 over the next few years. In doing so, the Group will operate the quietest, most profitable and most economical long-haul aircraft that are currently in service. On average the new aircraft consume just 2.5 liters of fuel per passenger per 100 kilometers – some 30 percent less than their predecessor aircraft types.
The new long-haul aircraft will also replace older aircraft types. In the medium-term future, six such subfleets will be taken out of service: the four-engined Boeing 747-400s, Airbus A340-600s and Airbus A340-300s and the two-engined Boeing 777-200s, Boeing 767-300s and Airbus A330-200s. This will reduce the quadjet contingent within the Lufthansa Group fleet to under 15 percent: prior to the pandemic, quadjets made up some 50 percent of the groupwide aircraft fleet.
In addition to the agreement on the purchase of the new aircraft, Airbus and Lufthansa have also signed a ‘Memorandum of Understanding’ to further strengthen their cooperation in the field of sustainability and future technologies. This includes the intensified use of sustainable aviation fuels, the further optimization of operations through a more efficient flight management and exploration into the use of hydrogen.
In total, and including the advanced short- and medium-haul aircraft of the Airbus A320neo family, the Lufthansa Group currently has over 200 firm orders for new aircraft of the latest generation which will be delivered over the next few years.
The Airbus A350-1000 will be a new addition to the Lufthansa Group fleet. The aircraft is 73.8 meters long and offers some 15 percent more capacity than the Airbus A350-900. The ten A350-1000s on order should primarily be deployed in premium-heavy markets. Therefore all these aircraft will be equipped with a First Class cabin.
Lufthansa already operates 21 of these aircraft with sizeable success. With the five aircraft ordered today, the Lufthansa Group will now take delivery of 33 further transports of this long-haul aircraft type.
Three Boeing 787-9s are presently in Lufthansa Group service. With today’s order included, 36 further Boeing 787-9s will join the Group fleet over the next few years.
Lufthansa is expanding its premium First Class offering with the “Suite Plus,” a separate double cabin with ceiling-high walls and an entirely closable door, large table and two wide seats that can be combined into a comfortable double bed if required. With this flying private room, Lufthansa is setting a new standard in comfort and individuality within its most sophisticated travel class.
The First Class Suite’s features are unparalleled anywhere in the world: Guests can warm or cool their nearly one-meter-wide seats in the suite according to their personal needs and connect their own mobile device to the entertainment system. Ample storage space is provided by a suite wardrobe so that travelers can comfortably change and have all their personal belongings at hand.
Service at the highest level also awaits: The crew serves the gourmet menu at a time requested by the guests. The meal can be enjoyed in the private suites at the large First Class table, similar to a restaurant.
The First Class will be introduced in 2024, on the newly delivered Airbus A350s as part of “Lufthansa Allegris,” the airline’s new long-haul product. In the process, the company is improving the overall travel experience for customers in all travel classes: Economy, Premium Economy, Business and First Class. “Allegris” is part of the largest product and service overhaul in the Lufthansa Group’s history, with a total investment of 2.5 billion euros by 2025.
“Every guest has their own understanding of premium, which is why we focus on maximum individuality and exclusivity. The First Class Suite Plus conveys the feeling of privacy and individuality similar to a hotel room – only at an altitude of eleven kilometers,” explained Jens Ritter, CEO Lufthansa Airlines at the launch of the “First Class Suite Plus” on February 28 in Berlin. “The Allegris range promises individuality, exclusivity, and premium service along the entire travel chain.”
For the first time, guests in Lufthansa Business Class can also look forward to their own suite, which offers even more comfort and privacy due to chest-high walls and sliding doors. Here, travelers in the first rows can enjoy extended personal space, a monitor up to 27 inches in size and ample storage. Each suite also offers its own wardrobe and personal minibar. Inside, it is possible to connect the two suites so that business class guests traveling together can enjoy a large degree of privacy.
With “Allegris,” the freedom of choice for Business Class guests has never been greater. Travelers can choose between six additional seat options, depending on whether they want an extra-long bed measuring 2.20 meters, extra space and work area, a seat with a baby bassinet, or simply an exclusive seat directly by the window. A double seat, in which the center console can be retracted to transform it into a reclining surface for two, is alsoavailable.
High seat walls and generous shoulder space provide greater privacy in all options. The seats can be converted into a bed at least two meters long and also offer high-definition screens (4K), generously-sized dining tables, wireless charging, noise-canceling headphones and Bluetooth connectivity. All seats are also equipped with a heating and cooling system, giving business class travelers the flexibility to set their own temperature. For extra comfortable side sleeping, seats also feature a shoulder sink-in, allowing the shoulder to sink into the seat, increasing sleeping comfort for side sleepers. A tablet-sized control unit provides access to all seating, lighting, heating/cooling and entertainment functions. Naturally, each seat is directly accessible from the aisle.
The new Premium Economy Class has already been introduced at SWISS in spring 2022. The “Allegris” seat offers more legroom, a fold-out leg rest, and can be adjusted even further back than the current model. Because it will be integrated into a hard shell, however, adjusting it will have no effect on fellow passengers in the row behind. The table and monitor always remain in position. For more comfort, Premium Economy Class passengers will also receive a travel amenity kit made of sustainable materials.
With the new “Allegris” product generation, Lufthansa is also giving its guests significantly more choice in Economy Class. In the future, travelers will have the option of booking additional seats in the first rows that offer more legroom, or a free seat next to them.
With “Allegris”, more than 80 brand-new Lufthansa aircraft, such as Boeing 787-9s, Airbus A350s and Boeing 777-9s, will fly to destinations around the world. Aircraft already in service with Lufthansa, such as the Boeing 747-8, will also be retrofitted. The simultaneous improvement of the travel experience in all classes and the replacement of more than 27,000 seats are unique in Lufthansa’s history. In this way, the company is underscoring its clear premium and quality claim. By 2025, the Lufthansa Group will invest a total of 2.5 billion euros in product and service.
Simultaneously, the Lufthansa Group is in the midst of the largest fleet modernization in its corporate history. By 2030, more than 200 new short- and long-haul aircraft are to be delivered to the Group’s airlines. This will enable the Lufthansa Group to significantly reduce the average CO2 emissions of its fleet. The ultra-modern “Dreamliner” long-haul aircraft, for example, will consume an average of only about 2.5 liters of kerosene per passenger and 100 kilometers of flight distance— up to 30 percent less than the previous model.
The developers also focused on sustainability aspects in the product development of “Allegris”. Recyclable materials were used for all 27,000 seats, as well as for blankets, cushions and covers.
The Lufthansa Group has set itself ambitious climate protection goals and aims to achieve a neutral CO₂ balance by 2050. Already by 2030, the aviation group wants to halve its net CO₂ emissions, compared to 2019, through reduction and compensation measures. The reduction roadmap to 2030 was validated in 2022 by the independent Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi).
Lufthansa has decided to transfer some of its Airbus A321s to its lower-cost leisure airline Eurowings.
The aircraft are now being painted in the full Eurowings livery.
So far three A321s have been assigned to Eurowings:
D-AIDP
D-AIDQ
D-AIDT
On February 1, 2023 Eurowings celebrated its 30th anniversary withn this message:
The mid-1970s, two pilots, one dream. Independently of each other, Hans Rudolf Wöhrl founds Nürnberger Flugdienst (NFD) and Reinhard Santner founds Dortmund Reise- und Industrieflug (RFG). The portfolio of the two companies is similar and includes air taxi services, ambulance and cargo flights, seaside resort services – so-called on-demand air transport. Today’s Eurowings was formed on February 1, 1993 from the merger of the two regional airlines. The name “Eurowings” was suggested by an employee who won an ideas competition with 500 Deutsche Mark for the winning entry. The logo introduced in the course of the launch was designed by students of the Nuremberg Academy of Arts.
At that time, the airline started with just under 1,000 employees and ATR 72 propeller aircraft. Although 32 destinations in eleven countries were already served in the founding year, the focus was on domestic connections. For quite some time, Eurowings had to fly under the flight numbers of NFD and RFG, because the code that Eurowings needed had been assigned by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to a subsidiary of Papua New Guinea-based Janlyn PTE. Through intensive negotiations, it was finally possible to get the EW code for Eurowings’ flights. The first flight, with the number EW733, went from Nuremberg to Paris in 1994. In the 1990s, Eurowings took over feeder flights for the Dutch airline KLM, among others, and was en route to Amsterdam with 13 aircraft at times – initially as a competitor of Lufthansa.
The year 2001 marks a milestone in the history of Eurowings. With the Lufthansa Group’s participation, the company’s strategy changes: the turboprop aircraft are replaced by CRJ jets, and Eurowings operates flights in the Lufthansa Regional network.
Just one year later, Eurowings launches a low-cost pioneer for Germany, Germanwings, which, in tandem with Eurowings, soon breaks the 10-million passenger mark. The great era of low-cost airlines begins (slogan: “Fly high, pay low”), to which Germanwings contributes the flexible fare model BASIC, SMART and BIZclass. The concept quickly becomes the industry standard and is still used at Eurowings today. In 2011, Eurowings moves to Düsseldorf, the largest air traffic location in North Rhine-Westphalia.
In 2014, the company gets the look and brand identity it is known for today, with the leading colors “Light Sky Blue” and “Burgundy”. The new strategy includes, among other things, a significant expansion of Germanwings and Eurowings in line with growing travel: the previous Eurowings fleet of smaller CRJ aircraft will be replaced by 23 aircraft from the Airbus A320 family.
Inseparably linked to the company’s history, however, is the accident of Germanwings flight 4U9525 on March 24, 2015, which claimed the lives of 150 people. An event that will remain in collective memory forever.
Eurowings subsequently begins to expand away from German airports, soon opening a base on Mallorca and founding the Eurowings Europe flight operation for pan-European routes outside Germany. And the dynamic development continues: after the end of Air Berlin in 2017 and the takeover of a large part of the fleet, hundreds of new jobs are created – many of which are filled by former AirBerlin colleagues.
Today, Eurowings explicitly sets itself apart from the ultra-low-cost carrier segment with its clear positioning as Europe’s value carrier for private and business travelers. The Lufthansa subsidiary combines inexpensive and flexible flying with innovative and customer-friendly services – a strategy with which it is expanding its leading position in the German market. In doing so, it focuses on the core needs of today’s air travelers: more flexibility, affordable comfort and sustainability.
“There are very few airlines in Germany that have succeeded for 30 years in a difficult market environment and have repeatedly mastered dynamic changes. It is all the more wonderful that we can celebrate our 30th birthday as Germany’s largest holiday airline,” said Eurowings CEO Jens Bischof. “We owe this success first and foremost to our more than 4,000 employees from 60 nations who have found their professional home with us. This diversity makes us strong. Because what has always distinguished Eurowings is the very special team spirit and the ability to react quickly to ever new market changes. We say thank you, Team Eurowings – here’s to the next 30 years!”
The Eurowings fleet includes more than 100 aircraft that fly to 140 destinations in more than 50 countries. In addition to its bases in Cologne/Bonn, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Stuttgart and Berlin, Eurowings also has major operations in Palma de Mallorca, Salzburg, Prague and Stockholm. This makes the Lufthansa subsidiary one of the largest leisure airlines in Europe. Every minute, a Eurowings aircraft takes off or lands somewhere in Europe.
Eurowings combines its passion for flying with corporate responsibility for the environment. It aims to cut its carbon emissions in half by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. An important step towards this was the introduction of the world’s most efficient medium-haul jet, the Airbus A320neo, into the fleet in 2022. Each new aircraft of this type emits 4,500 tonnes less CO2 per year compared to its predecessor. In addition to this, more than 50 projects with the aim of conserving resources and protecting the environment are underway at Eurowings.
Carbon compensation at the click of a mouse, punctual flights, friendly services, the most flexible rebooking options in the industry or a free middle seat starting at ten euros – these are just a few of the many examples of the modern value concept with which Eurowings presents itself as young, modern and innovative, even after 30 years.
In other news, Eurowings and the Spanish airline Volotea have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enter into a sales partnership. The cooperation is set to cover more than 140 European routes operated by both airlines without overlap, including more than 100 routes operated by Eurowings and around 40 operated by Volotea.
The connections also include plans for eight new routes flown by Volotea, connecting German airports such as Berlin, Dusseldorf, Hamburg and Stuttgart directly with French and Italian cities. As a result, Bordeaux, Lyon, Nantes, Florence and Verona will also be reached with direct flights in the future. With this, the two airlines are significantly broadening their pan-European portfolio for customers.
Volotea is one of the fastest growing airlines in Europe: founded in 2011, the Barcelona-based company now flies to more than 100 destinations in 16 countries. In Germany, the airline has been operating the weekly Airbus-internal factory shuttle between the Hamburg and Toulouse locations since 2019. With the sales partnership, Volotea is also offering scheduled flights in Germany for the first time.
At the same time, Eurowings intends to open its distribution channels to Volotea with its focus on smaller and medium-sized destinations in France and Italy. With the planned mutual distribution agreement, both Eurowings passengers and Volotea customers would benefit from the visibility of more than 140 connections on the websites of both airlines. This way, Eurowings and Volotea would improve the offer to their passengers, providing access to a significantly wider range of travel options throughout Europe.
In the context of the planned connections, Volotea will open eight new routes to/from Germany, connecting Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg and Stuttgart directly with its bases in Bordeaux, Lyon, Nantes (all in France), Florence and Verona (both in Italy). These new routes will operate twice weekly and have a capacity of around 60,000 seats.
Top Copyright Photo: Eurowings Airbus A321-231 D-AIDV (msn 5413) SEN (Keith Burton). Image: 960097.
Eurowings aircraft photo gallery:
Lufthansa has made this announcement today:
Due to an IT failure many Lufthansa IT systems are currently not working. Because of this reason, passengers must expect disruptions in the flights program and during the check-in process.
Important information on flight disruption: As of this morning the airlines of the Lufthansa Group are affected by an IT outage, caused by construction work in the Frankfurt region. Unfortunately, this has led to flight delays and cancellations. We are working on a solution swiftly. Until then we ask all affected guests flying on domestic LH flights in Germany to book a train ticket and request a refund on http://lh.com.
In other news, the flag carrier is also expecting a strike on Friday:
For Friday, February 17, 2023, the trade union ver.di has called for a one-day strike at various airports in Germany.
Top Copyright Photo: Lufthansa Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental D-ABYA (msn 37827) LAX (Michael B. Ing). Image: 960073.
Lufthansa aircraft photo gallery:
Lufthansa’s fifth Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, named “Düsseldorf”, pending delivery from Boeing.
Top Copyright Photo: Lufthansa Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner D-ABPE (msn 62143) PAE (Nick Dean). Image: 960041.
Lufthansa aircraft photo gallery:
Lufthansa is gradually bringing back its grounded Airbus A380s.
The flag carrier will base three A380s at its its Munich hub for flights to New York (JFK), Boston and Los Angeles starting in June.
The airline will begin refresher training in Hannover and Leipzig in May.
Six A380s will return to service. The other 8 will remain in storage (for now) at Teruel, Spain.
LH is also bringing back 10 remaining Airbus A340-600s for the summer season.
Top Copyright Photo: Lufthansa Airbus A380-841 D-AIMD (msn 048) LAX. Image: 947110.
Lufthansa aircraft photo gallery:
Lufthansa’s newest aircraft, the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, is heading to further North American destinations starting with the summer flight schedule as of March 26, 2023.
The Dreamliner will fly six times a week from Frankfurt to Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW), Texas. Lufthansa will offer four weekly flights to Montreal (YUL), Canada and ramp this up on 1 May to daily flights. Also early in May, Lufthansa will fly its Dreamliner daily to Denver (DEN), Colorado, three times weekly to Austin (AUS), Texas and on 13 February begin serving Detroit (DTW), Michigan. And since October last year the Dreamliner flies daily to Newark (EWR).
Currently, Lufthansa operates three Boeing 787-9s. Two additional ones will be delivered shortly. The Boeing 787-9 offers passengers a much improved travel experience. The cabin is very quiet and depending on the time of day, is well lit by an innovative lighting system. The higher entrance area gives a pleasant feeling of more space and the large windows offer the opportunity for better viewing or can be dimmed at the touch of a button. Business Class guests enjoy improved seating with, among other things, direct aisle access.
The Lufthansa Group and the energy company VARO are expanding their long-standing partnership and have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the production and supply of Sustainable Aviation Fuel. This means that VARO could supply the Lufthansa Group with large volumes of SAF from as early as 2026, for example to the Munich airport hub. The companies are also driving innovative processes to produce green hydrogen from biogenic waste materials. Green hydrogen is a significant CO2-free energy carrier that also plays an important role in the production of SAF.
The MoU underpins the Lufthansa Group’s goal of driving forward the availability, market ramp-up and use of Sustainable Aviation Fuels as a core element of its sustainability strategy. The airline group is continuously reviewing options for long-term purchase agreements and is already one of the largest customers of SAF in Europe.
For VARO, the goal of providing decarbonization solutions to the aviation industry forms an important pillar of its corporate strategy. From 2026, VARO aims to produce around 260,000 tons of Sustainable Aviation Fuel per year.
SAF is the generic term for all aviation fuels that are produced without the use of fossil energy sources such as crude oil or natural gas. Various production processes exist and different feedstock are available as energy sources. The current SAF is mainly produced from biogenic residual materials such as used cooking oil. As a so-called “drop-in” solution, it is mixed with conventional kerosene before being transported to the airport. The maximum blending rate of SAF permitted under the fuel specification is currently 50 percent. In its pure form, SAF from biogenic residues can reduce CO2 emissions by up to 80 percent compared to conventional kerosene. The Lufthansa Group has been involved in SAF research for many years, has built up an extensive network of partnerships and is driving forward the introduction of sustainable next-generation aviation fuels in particular. Special focus is placed on the forward-looking Power-to-Liquid and Sun-to-Liquid technologies, which use renewable energies or solar thermal energy as energy carriers.
The Lufthansa Group has set itself ambitious climate protection goals and aims to achieve a neutral CO₂ balance by 2050. Already by 2030, the Lufthansa Group wants to halve its net CO₂ emissions compared to 2019 through reduction and compensation measures. The reduction roadmap until 2030 was validated by the independent Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) in August 2022. The Lufthansa Group was the first airline group in Europe with a science-based CO₂ reduction target in line with the goals of the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement. To reduce CO₂, the Lufthansa Group is focusing in particular on accelerated fleet modernization, the use of Sustainable Aviation Fuels, the continuous optimization of flight operations, and offers for its private travelers and corporate customers to make a flight or the transport of cargo more sustainable.
Deutsche Lufthansa AG is aiming to acquire a stake in the Italian national carrier ITA Airways (Italia Trasporto Aereo S.p.A.). The plan is to agree on the initial acquisition of a minority stake as well as on options to purchase the remaining shares at a later date. Today, the company submitted an offer to the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance (Ministero dell’economia e delle finanze) to conclude a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in this respect. Contingent on both parties signing this MoU, further negotiations and discussions would be conducted on an exclusive basis.
These talks would primarily focus on the form of a possible equity investment, the commercial and operational integration of ITA into the Lufthansa Airline Group, as well as resulting synergies. In case of a binding agreement is reached, its implementation would be subject to approval by the relevant authorities.
For Lufthansa Group, Italy is the most important market outside of its home markets and the US. Italy’s importance for both business and private travel lies in its strong export-oriented economy and status as one of Europe’s top vacation spots.