Lufthansa City Airlines

Not to be confused with Lufthansa CityLine, City Airline, or City Airways.
Lufthansa City Airlines
Lufthansa City
IATA ICAO Call sign
VL LHX CITY AIR
Founded2022; 2 years ago (2022)
Commenced operations26 June 2024; 5 months ago (2024-06-26)
HubsMunich Airport
AllianceStar Alliance (affiliate)
Fleet size5
Destinations8[1]
Parent companyLufthansa Group
Websitewww.cityairlines.de

Lufthansa City Airlines, branded as Lufthansa City,[2] is a German regional airline and a subsidiary of Lufthansa. It began operations on 26 June 2024.[3]

History

Foundation and background

The airline was founded in 2022 and began operations in June 2024,[4] operating from Munich Airport to various cities around Europe.[5] The airline received its air operator's certificate in June 2023[6] and will operate using the brand name Lufthansa City.[2]

As of October 2023, the airline plans to launch operations in the summer of 2024 with 40 narrow-body aircraft mainly an Airbus A320 fleet transferred from Lufthansa CityLine.[7] Though the fleet will originally consist of Airbus A319 aircraft, Lufthansa is also evaluating the use of Airbus A220s or Embraer jets.[8] City Airlines plans to have bases in Munich and Frankfurt. It was currently seeking crewmembers to operate its planes as of late 2023.[9]

The new subsidiary has created controversy, as Lufthansa has said that its goal with City Airlines is to fill markets that fellow subsidiary Lufthansa CityLine cannot,[10] though unions say that the airline is trying only to circumvent union agreements that limit the size of aircraft that CityLine can fly. Lufthansa is also encouraging CityLine and former Germanwings employees to apply as well.[9][11]

Start of operations

In January 2024, the first City Airlines Airbus A319-100 received its new livery which is similar to that of parent company Lufthansa with additional City titles. The airline plans to phase in overall four aircraft of this type prior to the delivery of its ordered Airbus A220s.[12] Shortly after, Lufthansa announced the first six destinations for City Airlines with plans for 17 more in 2025. Also the airline plans to start operations with 4-5 aircraft with one more per month added in 2025 to take over parts of the short-haul network from Lufthansa.[1]

In June 2024, Lufthansa announced it would close Lufthansa CityLine in the foreseeable future and move all its operations to Lufthansa City Airlines, citing unfavorable union contracts at CityLine.[13]

Destinations

Lufthansa City Airlines announced it would start operations within the route network of parent Lufthansa using the brand name Lufthansa City to six domestic and two European destinations in 2024.[1]

Country City Airport Notes Refs
France Bordeaux Bordeaux–Mérignac Airport [14]
Germany Düsseldorf Düsseldorf Airport
Hamburg Hamburg Airport [14]
Hanover Hannover Airport
Munich Munich Airport Hub [15]
United Kingdom Birmingham Birmingham Airport
Manchester Manchester Airport [16]

Codeshare agreements

Lufthansa City Airlines maintains Codeshare agreements with the following airlines:

Fleet

Lufthansa City Airbus A319-100

As of November 2024, Lufthansa City Airlines operates the following aircraft:[18][19]

Lufthansa City fleet
Aircraft In service On order Passengers[19] Notes
Airbus A220-300 — 40 TBA Deliveries from 2026 with 20 options.[20][21]
Airbus A319-100 4 — 150 relocated from Eurowings[18]
Airbus A320neo 1 — 180 relocated from Lufthansa CityLine[18]
Total 5 40

References

  1. ^ a b c aerotelegraph.com (German) 27 February 2024
  2. ^ a b aerotelegraph.com - "City Airlines to operate as Lufthansa City" (German) 25 October 2023
  3. ^ "Lufthansa City Airlines starts flight operations with A320neo on June 26".
  4. ^ Sharma, Anurag (26 June 2024). "Lufthansa City Airlines Operated its Inaugural Flight from Munich". Aviation A2Z. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  5. ^ Lutzy, Tom (17 October 2023). "Lufthansa to Equip City Airlines with 40 Narrowbody Jets". Airways. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
  6. ^ "Lufthansa's City Airlines secures its AOC". ch-aviation. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
  7. ^ "Lufthansa to equip City Airlines with 40 new narrowbodies". ch-aviation. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
  8. ^ Harper, Lewis. "Lufthansa evaluates A220 and E-Jets as it confirms City Airlines will fly in 2024". Flight Global. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  9. ^ a b Nowakowski, Adrian (25 October 2023). "Lufthansa's City Airlines to Start Flying in Summer 2024". Airways. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  10. ^ Machado, João (25 October 2023). "Lufthansa's City Airlines to launch next Summer". Aviacionline.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  11. ^ "Germany will get a new airline in 2024: Where it'll fly and why unions aren't happy". Yahoo Finance. 26 October 2023. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  12. ^ aerotelegraph.com 6 January 2024
  13. ^ aviation.direct (German) 14 June 2024
  14. ^ a b "Lufthansa City schedules Bordeaux / Hamburg service from late-July 2024". aeroroutes.com. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  15. ^ "Lufthansa City Airlines startet Ticketverkauf im April und Flugbetrieb im Juni". Lufthansa City Airlines startet Ticketverkauf im April und Flugbetrieb im Juni (Press release) (in German). Retrieved 24 April 2024.
  16. ^ "Route network". Lufthansa City Airlines. Retrieved 24 October 2024.
  17. ^ "Lufthansa City Late June 2024 network with Lufthansa Codeshare".
  18. ^ a b c planspotters.net - Lufthansa City Airlines Fleet Details and History retrieved 9 November 2024
  19. ^ a b lufthansa-city.com - fleet retrieved 9 November 2024
  20. ^ "Lufthansa Group orders additional 40 Airbus A220s". Airbus (Press release). 19 December 2023.
  21. ^ "Lufthansa Group orders 80 new highly efficient short- and medium-haul aircraft and agrees on a further 120 purchasing options". Lufthansa Group (Press release). 19 December 2023.