Lufthansa City Airlines, the new airline from the German group that will begin operations this summer, has confirmed the first destinations in its European network.
Initially, the company will fly from Munich to Berlin, Hamburg, Bremen, Düsseldorf, Cologne, Hanover, Birmingham, Bordeaux, and Manchester.
Flights will be available for purchase from the end of April through the same sales channels as Lufthansa Group, and will start operating with four Airbus A319s, two of which already have the new Lufthansa City livery applied.
In December, Lufthansa Group confirmed an order for 40 Airbus A220-300 (plus 20 options) for the new airline, which will be delivered between 2026 and 2031 and will have a configuration of 148 seats.
Lufthansa City, which has its own German air operator certificate, will be a lower-cost alternative than Lufthansa CityLine for feeding the group’s hubs in Frankfurt and Munich by using larger capacity aircraft.
See also: Major Fleet Expansion for Lufthansa Group: 80 New Aircraft to Join Between 2026 and 2032
As we reported in a previous note, in the earnings presentation for the holding company corresponding to the second quarter of 2022, the group’s CEO, Carsten Spohr, mentioned three main reasons for the creation of what was then called “CityLine 2”. First, to reduce the cost base of inbound and outbound traffic from its hubs; second, to place pilots from the former Germanwings; and third, to be able to fly with larger planes.
Regarding the last point, Lufthansa CityLine can currently fly with aircraft of any size. However, this permission expires in 2026, after which the business unit would be limited to aircraft with a maximum of 95 seats, according to Spohr.
As Spohr said in the 2022 earnings call about the reasons for needing the City Airlines project, “I know it’s complicated, but that’s how it is.”
