Lufthansa's low-cost subsidiary is now being deployed in Frankfurt, after Munich. The carrier launched the first flights of its City Line subsidiary on 10 February from its main hub, complementing its Munich base. The Munich base was inaugurated in the summer of 2024. Lufthansa City Line has 13 aircraft based there, and last year carried almost two million passengers to 27 destinations.
City Line ramps up in Frankfurt by summer
Nevertheless, the opening of the Frankfurt base represents a new stage in the development of the group's newest airline. " With our new base and the targeted expansion of our short-haul network, we are strengthening our market position and laying the foundations for future growth within the Group. "said Peter Albers, Chief Operating Officer of Lufthansa City Airlines.
The first flight took off from Frankfurt to Manchester in an Airbus A320neo. Berlin and Valencia join the network this February, followed by Düsseldorf and Málaga in March with the integration of a second aircraft. From summer 2026, the network from Frankfurt will gradually expand to include other destinations such as London Heathrow, Stockholm, Bilbao, Hamburg, Helsinki, Ibiza, Marseille and Bucharest. By autumn, Lufthansa City Airlines' local fleet in Frankfurt will comprise seven Airbus A320neo aircraft.
For business passengers, Lufthansa City Airlines is a permanent member of Star Allianceoffering its passengers access to a worldwide network and numerous advantages such as mileage collection and access to its parent company's lounges.
Large-scale agreement between Lufthansa Group and Air India
In addition, Lufthansa says it has just signed a strengthened agreement with Air India, the airline's long-standing partner. It follows the economic free trade agreement signed between the European Union and India.
Connections between European markets and India are already the Lufthansa Group's second-largest long-haul premium market. The Lufthansa Group and Air India currently operate codeshare flights on 146 routes to 22 countries. The joint network includes 15 Indian destinations and 27 European destinations. Lufthansa thus offers the largest number of connections to India from Frankfurt with Delhi, Bombay, Chennai (Madras), Bangalore and Hyderabad. From the 5-star hub in Munich, Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore are served.
The Memorandum of Understanding will initially focus on the expansion and joint marketing of flights to offer customers a more connected and seamless travel experience. A second stage will include the rest of the EU and the Indian subcontinent. The focus will be on better coordination of schedules and route networks in certain markets, so that passengers can benefit from better connections and shorter transit times.
