Continuing our airline series, we’ll look at Lufthansa, one of Europe’s most significant airlines.
IATA: LH,  ICAO: DLH

Part 2; Lufthansa:

Lufthansa, Deutsche Lufthansa AG, is Germany’s flag carrier and the country’s largest airline.
After Air France – KLM, Lufthansa, is Europe’s second-largest airline. The corporation was founded in Berlin in 1926, and its name is derived from the German words Luft and Hansa (from the name of the medieval Hanseatic trading league).

The Lufthansa Group employs over 100,000 people worldwide and operates more than 500 planes.

Apart from its own services and subsidiary passenger airlines Austrian Airlines, Swiss International Air Lines, Brussels Airlines, and Eurowings (referred to by Lufthansa as its Passenger Airline Group in English), Deutsche Lufthansa AG owns several aviation-related companies as part of the Lufthansa Group, including Lufthansa Technik and LSG Sky Chefs. The firm operates a fleet of around 700 aircraft, making it one of the world’s largest airline fleets.

Headquarters:

Lufthansa’s registered office and corporate headquarters are both in Cologne. The Lufthansa Aviation Center, the main operations base, is located at Lufthansa’s primary hub, Frankfurt Airport, while a secondary hub, Munich Airport, is home to a secondary Flight Operations Centre.

Facts about the airline:

1. Lufthansa is one of the founding members of the most prominent airline alliance Star Alliance. 
2. Lufthansa flies to 211 locations in 74 countries, 20 of them in the United States.
3. Lufthansa was the first airline to offer inflight internet in 2004.
4. The longest flight operated by Lufthansa is 13 hours and 55 minutes, to Buenos Aires.
5. Lufthansa carried 70.5 million passengers in 2008. (Without considering the subdivisions Germanwings, BMI, AUA, Brussels Airlines).
6. Lufthansa is the new 747-8’s largest operator.
   Most airlines now use the Airbus A380 Super Jumbo, and 747s gradually disappear from the skies. Regardless, Lufthansa decided to purchase 20 brand new Jumbos, making it the world’s largest 747-8 fleet.
7. Lufthansa owns Europe’s largest Airbus A380 fleet.
   The world’s largest Airbus A340 fleet and Europe’s largest armada with 14 Airbus A380s. There are 509 seats available in four different travel classes, including eight First Class seats, 78 Business Class flatbeds, and 423 Economy and Economy Plus seats.
8. Lufthansa is the largest buyer of caviar in the world.
   Although Lufthansa is not the most opulent airline in the world, with an annual caviar purchase of 10 tones from the German “Crane,” they appear to take excellent care of their First and Business Class passengers.

Lufthansa Logo:

Otto Firle designed the Lufthansa logo in 1918, which features a ringed stylized crane in flight. It was part of the livery of Deutsche Luft-Reederei (abbreviated DLR), Germany’s first airline, which began operation on February 5, 1919. This sign was adopted by Deutsche Luft Hansa in 1926, and Lufthansa followed suit in 1954, demonstrating continuity.

Fleet info.

Its current fleet size: is 285 aircraft
The Fleet consists of 247 airbus planes,  27 Boeing, 2 Bombardier, and 9 Embraer

Aircraft types and their number:

Airbus A319-100:26
Airbus A320-200:53
Airbus A320neo:30
Airbus A321-100:20
Airbus A321-200:43
Airbus A321neo:14
Airbus A330-300:13
Airbus A340-300:17
Airbus A340-600:10
Airbus A350-900:21

Boeing 747-400: 8
Boeing 747-8:  19

Bombardier CRJ-900:2
Embraer ERJ-190:9          

On the other hand, as of December 31, 2021, Lufthansa German Airlines (LH), SWISS (LX), Austrian Airlines (OS), Eurowings (EW), Brussels Airlines (SN), and Lufthansa Cargo (LCAG) fleets consist of 713 aircraft

History of Lufthansa airline:

• “Deutsche Aero Lloyd” (DAL) and “Junkers Luftverkehr” combined in early January 1926, forming the Deutsche Luft Hansa Aktiengesellschaft.
• A year later, the Spanish government and Deutsche Luft Hansa, acting on behalf of the German government, signed an agreement authorizing air service between the two nations, as well as a capital investment that led to the formation of Iberia Airlines.
• The airline began using the name “Lufthansa” in 1933, and thanks to a fleet of largely German-designed aircraft, the airline pioneered routes across the Atlantic and to the Far East until the advent of World War II.
• In 1960, Lufthansa began flying Boeing 707 planes between Frankfurt and New York, which were shortly joined by Boeing 720 jets.
• In 1968, Lufthansa added the Boeing 737 medium-haul plane to its fleet.
• The Boeing 747, Lufthansa’s first wide-body aircraft, was introduced in 1970.
• After Air France, Lufthansa is expected to become the second European airline to operate the Airbus A380 in March 2010.
• Lufthansa became the tenth airline to obtain the prestigious Skytrax 5-star rating in December 2017. Lufthansa painted a special “5 Starhansa” livery on an Airbus A320 and a Boeing B747-8 as the first and only European airline to get this honor.
• Lufthansa claimed in January 2021 that it was losing 1 million euros per two hours, “a big improvement” over the COVID-19 crisis’s low point. The German airline warned in March that it will lose a record €6.7 billion in 2020, compared to a profit of €1.2 billion in 2019.

Sources:

• https://usitcolours.bg/en/flights/regular-airlines/lufthansa/s/588
• https://www.dewebsite.org/logo/lufthansa/lufthansa.html
• https://www.gotravelyourway.com/2016/02/12/review-10-lufthansa-facts-you-should-know/
• https://www.planespotters.net/airline/Lufthansa
• https://www.seatmaestro.com/airlines-seating-maps/lufthansa/history/
• Main Photo credit to: https://gulf-insider.com/german-airline-lufthansa-to-start-flying-80-more-planes-in-june/