City Airlines, the latest airline of the Lufthansa Group, is expected to launch operations from the Summer of 2024, as announced by the Group this Wednesday (25) morning.
The new airline has received its German Air Operator Certificate (AOC) in June, and it will operate from Lufthansa’s hubs in Germany — Frankfurt and Munich — as a feeder. In a press release, the group said City Airlines «will operate alongside Lufthansa CityLine». Recruitment for operational positions is to start in November this year.
City Airlines’ fleet is to count initially with Airbus A319. The Group, however, says it is evaluating the incorporation of the Airbus A220 or Embraer [E2] aircraft.
«With City Airlines, we want to create prospects for the coming decades and secure sustainable jobs in Germany», stated City Airlines’ Managing Director, Jens Fehlinger, in the press release. «This is the only way for us to grow and sustainably strengthen the hubs in Munich and Frankfurt».
Lufthansa plans on feeding its hubs with lower-cost capacity, and City Airlines is a part of that continuing strategy. In the press release, the group mentioned «the competitive strengthening of the short-haul network is essential for the market position of Lufthansa Group and for the planned growth of the long-haul segment in the German market.
Beyond Lufthansa’s main operation, Frankfurt and Munich already count with feed from other lower-cost operations of the group, namely Air Dolomiti, Eurowings Discover (now rebranded as Discover Airlines) and Lufthansa CityLine.
While Lufthansa CityLine is to continue existing, the group said «Lufthansa CityLine staff in particular», as well as staff in other airlines of the group, are able to voluntarily switch to the new carrier, and that «talks with the social partners to agree on conditions for competitive and secure jobs have already begun».
In the earnings call of the holding for the second quarter of 2022, Group CEO Carsten Spohr mentioned three main reasons for the creation of the then-labelled «CityLine 2». First, reducing the cost base of feed traffic in and out of its hubs; secondly, placing the pilots of the former Germanwings; thirdly, being able to fly larger aircraft.
For the last point, Lufthansa CityLine is currently able to fly aircraft regardless of its size. This permission, however, runs out in 2026, after which the business unit would be constrained to aircraft with a maximum of 95 seats, according to Spohr.
The potential replacement for Lufthansa’s regional fleet — either the Airbus A220 or the Embraer E2 — is unlikely to obey this limit. The A220-100 operated by fellow group airline Swiss, for instance, has 125 seats. Embraer’s standard three-class configuration for the E190 E2, meanwhile, has 97.
