History of Lufthansa

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Memorial plaque on Haus Platz der Luftbrücke  5, in Berlin-Tempelhof . The customer for the memorial plaque was today's Deutsche Lufthansa AG, based in Cologne.

The article History of Lufthansa deals with the historical background to the various companies that operated as Deutsche Lufthansa or that still operate today. The illustration covers the period of the existence of the first company with the name Deutsche Luft Hansa AG (spelling from 1933: Deutsche Lufthansa AG ), which was founded on January 6, 1926 and ceased flight operations at the end of the National Socialist dictatorship in 1945 (the AG became finally liquidated by the Allies in 1951 ), as well as the period since the establishment of the Aktiengesellschaft für Luftverkehrsbedarf ( LUFTAG) in 1953, which was renamed Deutsche Lufthansa AG in 1954 and made its first scheduled flight on April 1, 1955. Today's Deutsche Lufthansa AG is not the legal successor to the "old" Deutsche Lufthansa AG, which has been influenced by the Nazis since 1933 .

Regardless of this, today's company presents its first scheduled flight on April 1, 1955 as a “new beginning” for the airline operating under the brand name “Lufthansa” and, in this context, makes the technical advances in German commercial aviation before the founding of today's Deutsche Lufthansa AG as corporate history own. With a view to the Nazi regime , today's company has been shown to consciously suppress the employment of forced laborers during the Nazi era in its self-portrayal .

The "new" Deutsche Lufthansa AG had no legal relationship whatsoever with Deutsche Lufthansa , founded by the GDR on May 1, 1955 , which was liquidated in 1963 and whose flight operations were continued by Interflug .

  • Logo development at the Lufthansa companies

  • As early as 1918, Otto Firle created the crane logo of Deutsche Luft Hansa AG, which was founded in 1926, for Deutsche Luft-Reederei, which is still internationally known today. In the years 1933 to 1945 the airline, renamed Deutsche Lufthansa AG, was obliged to display the Nazi regime's swastika flag on the vertical stabilizers of its aircraft.

  • Logo from 1954 of today's Deutsche Lufthansa AG

  • Logo with vertical tail emblem from 1988 to February 6, 2018

  • The corporate design in Helvetica font created by Otl Aicher in 1962 was used until February 6, 2018.

  • Second Lufthansa logo until February 6, 2018

  • The current logo since February 7, 2018

Forerunner of the airline brand "Lufthansa"

An AEG J.II cabin from the Deutsche Luft-Reederei (DLR), which already had the "Kranich" logo on the rudder.
With the opening of the line connection between Berlin-Staaken and London in 1922 with a Komet II (registration D-223), DLR had also started Germany's first international airline service.

In December 1917, the companies HAPAG , Luftschiffbau Zeppelin and AEG founded the Deutsche Luft-Reederei (DLR) with the assistance of Deutsche Bank . DLR carried out its first scheduled flight from Berlin to Weimar in February 1919 . In 1920 DLR merged with Sablatnig Flugzeugbau GmbH to form Lloyd Luftverkehr Sablatnig . In 1923, HAPAG and Norddeutscher Lloyd merged their aviation interests in Deutsche Aero Lloyd .

In the same year, after the end of the inflation , an initiative came from the Reich government which hoped to reduce the subsidy payments to the two highly indebted companies Deutscher Aero Lloyd and Junkers Luftverkehr AG through their merger. On the private side, the deputy director of Deutsche Bank , Kurt Weigelt , played an important role. The chairman of the merger commission was Max Schwab , chairman of the board of Rheinbahn AG in Düsseldorf, which was interested in the development of air traffic because of its stake in the Düsseldorf airport operating company. On the occasion of the start of the Dresden – Munich air traffic, the name Luft Hansa was created for this new planned company at the opening ceremony in Dresden City Hall .

On January 6, 1926, the two companies merged through the establishment of Deutsche Luft Hansa Aktiengesellschaft with headquarters in Berlin and the provisional board of directors: Major Martin Wronsky and Otto Julius Merkel (Aero Lloyd), as well as Erhard Milch (Junkers), who subsequently became technical director and Member of the board of directors of Deutsche Luft Hansa AG and, from 1942, as an ardent advocate of National Socialism, chairman of the supervisory board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG, which has been closely linked to the Nazi regime since 1933.

History of the former Deutsche Lufthansa AG (1926–1951)

The beginnings of Lufthansa in the 1920s and 1930s were the pioneering days of German scheduled air traffic . Lufthansa achieved numerous pioneering achievements and business successes. By the end of the 1920s, Deutsche Luft Hansa had already established itself as an international airline with the declared aim of establishing a network of routes between all major European cities. While the passenger traffic of the airline in Berlin, which was renamed Deutsche Lufthansa AG in 1933, had been handled at the central airport Tempelhof since the 1930s, the Berlin Staaken airfield developed into Lufthansa's main yard from the mid-1930s. Measured by the infrastructure and the large number of factory and transfer flights, Staaken airfield corresponded to a major airport by the standards of the time. However, until the end of the Second World War , the main Lufthansa shipyard was largely used by the Wehrmacht's air force, that is, in addition to the profitable repair of war aircraft, in particular as a camouflage for the development and testing of military aviation technology.

At no time did Lufthansa fly economically. Rather, it had to be heavily subsidized partly directly and partly indirectly through arms financing. Towards the end of the Weimar Republic, Lufthansa was practically on the verge of extinction. The beginning of the National Socialist rule offered her a chance to legitimize herself again by offering herself to the Nazi regime. For example, Hermann Göring was bribed as a simple member of the Reichstag and Adolf Hitler was given a permanent and free plane during the election campaign. Accordingly, the years 1933 to 1945 were shaped by the takeover of Lufthansa by the Nazi regime , the years before the start of the Second World War also by the war preparations of the German Reich . Because Lufthansa did not even come close to achieving its goal of profitability by the end of operations in April 1945, it was on the verge of being abandoned several times during this period.

The 1920s

Air Hansa route network from summer 1926 (sa)
In 1927 the Dornier Merkur for up to 8 passengers was considered the most economical aircraft of the Luft Hansa
A German Luft Hansa Albatros L 73 , called Brandenburg , at the Szczecin Airfield (1927)

The aircraft fleet of Deutsche Luft Hansa Aktiengesellschaft (Luft Hansa) comprised 162 aircraft on its founding date January 6, 1926 (see above), most of which were outdated military aircraft from the First World War . However, with the Junkers F 13 , Luft Hansa also had the first all-metal airliner to be mass-produced as a passenger aircraft.

Initially, the Staaken airfield in Berlin had good prospects of becoming Luft Hansa's main airport. However, within a short time the Berlin-Tempelhof airport, which is more conveniently located for passenger transport, became the official home airport of Lufthansa, while the Staaken airfield was mainly used for training flights and maintenance work in the Luft Hansa halls there, which was the main location at the time in the early 1930s Lufthansa Technik were expanded.

On April 6, 1926, Luft Hansa took off its first scheduled flight from Tempelhof Airport. Since the destination of this flight was Zurich ( Dübendorf airport ), via Halle , Erfurt and Stuttgart ( Böblingen airport ), it was also the first scheduled international flight of Luft Hansa. The aircraft used, a Fokker-Grulich high-decker, had the blue and yellow crane emblem as the company logo of the new airline, which was the result of the combination of the company logos of the two predecessor companies.

The first all-metal aircraft in civil aviation, also used by Luft Hansa : the Junkers F 13 , shown on postage stamp for the 50th anniversary (1976).

Luft Hansa had already attempted night flights in the year it was founded. As a result of these attempts, night mail and night freight traffic could be started. On May 1st, the first night flight route was opened with a three-engine Junkers G 24 from Tempelhof airfield in Berlin to Königsberg ( Devau airport ).

Shares in the German-Russian airline ( Deruluft ), founded in 1921, were also taken over in the founding year . The establishment of a regular flight connection between Berlin and Moscow, an unusually long route at the time, caused a sensation.

After the restrictions on German aviation by the Paris Aviation Agreement , an airline Berlin - Cologne (Butzweilerhof) - Paris (Le Bourget) was set up in cooperation with the French Lignes Farman in the founding year . The popular bathing routes on the North and Baltic Seas were added in summer. At the end of the year, Luft Hansa already employed 1,527 people. According to the balance sheet for the first year of operation, more than six million flight kilometers were covered and 56,268 passengers, 258 tons of freight and 301 tons of mail were transported.

In 1927 a number of other routes were added, such as the Munich - Salzburg - Klagenfurt - Venice route . The section of the Berlin – Szczecin – Copenhagen – Gothenburg – Oslo route, served by flying boats , crossed the Baltic Sea . In August, a cooperation in freight transport was concluded with the Deutsche Reichsbahn . In December, with the participation of Luft Hansa, new airlines were founded abroad: in Spain the "Iberia - Compania Aerea de Transportes SA" with its route Madrid - Barcelona . "Syndicato Condor Ltda." Was founded in Brazil .

In January 1928, the last section from Marseille- Barcelona on the Berlin-Madrid line was opened. This was the longest continuous route in Europe, route length 2100 kilometers. On 12./13. April crossed Hermann Köhl together with Günther von Hünefeld and James Fitzmaurice in a Junkers W 33 (baptized name Bremen) from Baldonnel in Ireland from the North Atlantic from east to west and landed on Greenly Island in front of Labrador . This was followed by the establishment of various high-speed connections in non-stop flights (Berlin – Zurich and Berlin – Vienna ). A Junkers W 33 set off on flights to Siberia in August and September. In September / October a Junkers W 33 flew from Berlin to Tokyo .

Decline in the Lufthansa balance sheet in 1929 compared to 1928:

1929 1928
km 8,237,872 9,590,570
Passengers 87,019 111.115
baggage 690.609 868.460

On May 1, 1929, Deutsche Luft Hansa AG offered its passengers a return ticket with a 10 percent discount for the first time. Reichspost routes from Berlin to London and from Berlin to Malmö were opened in May and from Stuttgart to Basel in June . On July 22, a Heinkel HE 12 was launched from a catapult 400 km off the coast during the maiden voyage of the express steamer Bremen in order to shorten the regular mail traffic across the North Atlantic . In preparation for the South Atlantic crossing, an Arado flew from Seville to Tenerife .

The end of the 1920s the canceled Luft Hansa in the Bavarian aircraft factory an order for a high-wing design all metal construction for ten passengers after during a flight tail and tail of of chief designer Willy Messerschmitt designed transport aircraft M20 broke off and led to its crash. Luft Hansa was later forced to fulfill the original contract. This earned Messerschmitt and the Bayerische Flugzeugwerke the hostility of Erhard Milch , the then Luft Hansa boss (and later Goering's deputy) after Milch had become State Secretary in the Reich Ministry of Aviation (RLM) in the 1930s . In the Milch trial in 1947 he was sentenced to life imprisonment, but was released in 1954.

The 1930s

Lufthansa waiting area at Tempelhof Central Airport in Berlin, 1930
Catapult launch of the Junkers Ju 46 Europa (D-2244) of LUFT-HANSA in 1932 from Europa
A Ju 52 over a stagecoach ;
Poster designed by Max Ullmann , 1936
10 years Lufthansa (1936)

The beginning of the 1930s was characterized by the global economic crisis . Nevertheless, the company strived for new goals. In particular, the South Atlantic traffic and the Far East were considered worthwhile destinations. Here, too, pioneering achievements were made.

In order to prepare for Chinese aviation, Luft Hansa founded the European-Asian airmail company Eurasia in February 1930 together with the Chinese Ministry of Transport . Starting mail planes from passenger ships became routine. There were 24 such launches this year. From August 18 to 26, a Dornier Do J ("Wal") flew from Warnemünde to New York under the pilot Wolfgang von Gronau . The airmail route Vienna - Budapest - Belgrade - Sofia - Istanbul with a post transit time from Berlin to Istanbul of just 24 hours was inaugurated in May.

There has been a cooperation with the Deutsche Reichsbahn for people and luggage transport since the 1920s . In 1930 the Luft-Hansa became a member of the Association of German Railway Administrations .

From May 1931 the postal service of the Eurasia Shanghai - Nanjing - Peking - Manjur was established. In April 1931 there were regular crossings of the Alps. In June, a flight shuttle service from Cologne - Frankfurt was tested for the price of a 2nd class train ticket. In overseas traffic, Luft Hansa carried out a total of 31 catapult launches this year .

From July 1932, the Junkers G 38, the largest passenger aircraft of the time, was used on the Berlin - Amsterdam - London route. In June, the cargo ship Westfalen of North German Lloyd was chartered in preparation for the regular crossing of the South Atlantic . There were 36 catapult launches by flying boats of the Dornier Do J ("Wal") type and further catapult launches for advance mail flights with a Ju 46 from the express steamer Europa on the North Atlantic route.

From May 1933 on, two Junkers W34s were transferred to Shanghai . The Heinkel He 70 was tested and broke a total of eight world records. The Deutsche Reichsbahn was the first railway company to cancel a night train on the Berlin - Königsberg route in favor of a flight connection. New tests with larger catapults for the Dornier Wal with a takeoff weight of eight tons and test flights for the South Atlantic mail route took place. From 1933 the word "Lufthansa" was spelled together in the company name.

Junkers Ju 52 / 3m with three Jumo 205 C engines (postal plane 1935)

In February 1934 Lufthansa set up the first transatlantic post line that crossed the South Atlantic. For this purpose the cargo ship Schwarzenfels of the DDG "Hansa" was bought and converted into a catapult ship under the new name Schwabenland . The so-called Reichsbahn routes from Berlin to Munster , Stuttgart and Breslau were included in the flight plan. The new route from Berlin to Warsaw followed in May . The cruising speeds rose steeply through the use of the Junkers Ju 52 / 3m and the Heinkel He 70. The Heinkel He 70 flew the so-called lightning routes between Berlin , Hamburg , Cologne and Frankfurt am Main from June . The one millionth passenger was welcomed in September. Dornier-Wal with a take-off weight of ten tons were now also used for the South Atlantic Service. A second base ship was deployed and air mail traffic between Germany and South America was started.

Focke-Wulf Fw 200 B Condor of the Danish airline DDL (foreground) and Lufthansa (background)
Böttcherstraße (Bremen), memorial plaque Condor record flight
Focke-Wulf Fw 200 B "Condor" of Lufthansa (model)
DLH logo on Ju-52 / 3m tail
The Junkers Ju 52 / 3m (D-ANOY) in the ensemble of historic aircraft at Munich Airport

In February 1935 a test flight to Cairo was carried out with a Junkers Ju 52 / 3m. In cooperation with KLM , Lufthansa added the Amsterdam - Milan route to the flight plan. From April the South Atlantic routes were also flown nightly with seaplanes. The 100th mail flight on the South Atlantic route was celebrated in August. A third base ship was commissioned. Two Boeing 247s ordered as early as 1933 temporarily added to the land aircraft fleet. A DC-2 was added as the third aircraft from US production .

In 1936, Deutsche Lufthansa AG celebrated its 10th anniversary. Dornier Do 18 flying boats with Junkers diesel engines were procured for the South Atlantic Service . This enabled the ocean to be crossed even in blind flight conditions. To explore the Asian routes, a Junkers Ju 52 / 3m flew over the Hindu Kush and the Pamir .

In July 1937, the Sociedad Ecuatoriana de Transportes Aereos (abbreviation SEDTA) was founded in Ecuador . Lufthansa chartered two Junkers W34s to this company . This was followed by 139 test flights over the North Atlantic with the new Blohm & Voss Ha , which were successful. The postal service from Berlin to Baghdad began in October . Shortly afterwards, this line was extended to Tehran .

In April 1938, the route from Berlin to Tehran was also released for passenger service and shortly afterwards extended to Kabul . A subsidiary was founded in Peru . Lufthansa put the four-engine Focke-Wulf Fw 200 “Condor”, designed as a civil long-haul airliner, into regular service just one year after its maiden flight (July 27, 1937). In normal operation, the machine could take 25 passengers and fly 3000 km. The test flights were so convincing that Lufthansa immediately commissioned the first series. The prototype was followed by a few Fw 200 A and the first larger series version, the Fw 200 B. With a wing area of 118 square meters, the Condor was almost as big as today's Airbus A 320 . On August 10, 1938, the Fw 200 V1 "Condor" (D-ACON, Lufthansa name "Brandenburg"), serial no. 2000, under the command of flight captain Alfred Henke and with Hptm. Rudolf von Moreau (2nd pilot), Paul Dierberg (head radio operator) and Walter Kober (head radio operator) as the first land-based long-haul passenger aircraft to travel the 6,371.302 kilometers non-stop from Staaken to the Floyd Bennett Field in New York City in 24 hours, 56 minutes and 12 seconds; this corresponded to an average speed of 255.499 km / h. On the return flight from New York to Berlin-Tempelhof , the machine covered a distance of 6,392 km in 19 hours and 55 minutes; this corresponded to an average speed of 321 km / h. Both flights were recognized by the FAI as flight path records, 2nd category (record with crew), which represented the cutting-edge technology in civil aircraft construction at the time.

On November 28, 1938, the D-ACON started with the same crew and with on-board warden Georg Kohne (Focke-Wulf) and Consul Heinz Junge (Director of Focke-Wulf-Flugzeugbau GmbH Berlin) from Berlin-Tempelhof on another record flight with three stopovers in Basra, Karachi and Hanoi to Tokyo (arrival in Tokyo on November 30, 1938). On this flight, the Condor flew a total of 13,844 km in 46 hours and 18 minutes. This corresponds to an average speed of 192 km / h (including ground times in Basra, Karachi and Hanoi). On the return flight, D-ACON had to make an emergency landing in Cavite Bay off Manila on December 6, 1938 because of a defect in the fuel line. In total, in the last full year of operation in 1938, which was also a record year, Lufthansa completed 19.3 million flight kilometers in European traffic alone, transporting 254,713 passengers and 5,288 tons of letters.

The German Antarctic Expedition 1938/39 took place at the beginning of 1939 : two Dornier whales took off by catapult from the expedition ship Schwabenland and photographed a total of 350,000 square kilometers on several exploratory flights. This area was named Neuschwabenland after the ship . On April 1, 1939, the Brazilian Lufthansa subsidiary Syndicato Condor took over the transatlantic route from Natal to Santiago de Chile . At the end of June, a Focke-Wulf Fw 200 was the first Lufthansa land plane to cross the South Atlantic in a non-stop flight in 9 hours and 47 minutes. In April / May a Junkers Ju 52 / 3m flew via Bangkok , Hanoi and Taipei to Tokyo. A liner service from Berlin to Bangkok in five stages was offered from the end of July. On August 25, 1939 at 3:02 p.m. Hitler gave the order to start the " White Case " (i.e. to attack Poland). Although this order was canceled again at around 6:15 pm, it had the consequence that on August 26, 1939 the scheduled Lufthansa service was "temporarily" suspended. With a few exceptions, almost the entire Lufthansa aircraft fleet including crews was integrated into the air force and formed the trunk of the combat squadron e.g. V. 172 ( e.g. V. - for special use ), led by Freiherr von Gablenz , major in the reserve. Gablenz was a board member since 1933 and played a key role in the expansion of the overseas flight network and modern flight technology in the 1920s and 1930s. Within the squadron there was a so-called "special squadron", which consisted exclusively of members of Lufthansa and to which all four-engine machines (i.e. the Ju 90 , FW 200 and Junkers G 38 ) were assigned. On August 29, 1939, this special squadron received its first order: to bring the Reichstag members from all over the German Reich to Berlin. However, the aircraft were ordered back by radio because the attack order (see above) was revoked. All civil air traffic was then completely stopped on August 30, 1939. On the evening of August 31, the order was carried out to transport the members of the Reichstag to Berlin. There they learned officially the next morning (September 1, 1939) that "they had been fired back since 5:45 am". The Second World War had begun. On September 21, 1939 , there was a modest resumption of air traffic on the Berlin – Danzig – Königsberg route , but not from Tempelhof, but about 20 km south of Berlin from the Rangsdorf airfield . The Berlin – Vienna – Budapest – Belgrade route followed on October 18.

1940s

Ju 52 / 3m in DLH colors

Up until March 7, 1940, there were no more Lufthansa flights from Tempelhof - it was only on that day that the Lufthansa home port was again served as planned. At the end of November 1940, after intervention by the Chinese government, the Eurasia service was suspended. The base in Kunming was evacuated and all employees left the Republic of China .

In mid-December 1941, the Brazilian Syndicato Condor had to cease operations. Deruluft had to be liquidated on March 22nd. On October 27th Lufthansa flew to Riga and Helsinki for the first time since the beginning of the war against the Soviet Union .

From 1942, more and more routes had to be closed because the fighting developed to the detriment of the German Reich . Air travel could no longer be freely sold, but had to be approved by government agencies. Lufthansa shipyards and personnel were practically in the service of the Air Force. In the same year the “Syndicato Condor Ltda.” Was renamed “Servicos Aereos Cruzeiro do Sul Ltda.”. Von Gablenz, meanwhile appointed major general on November 1, 1941 and thus the first general of the reserve, fell fatally on August 21, 1942. His memory is kept alive, among other things, by the fact that Lufthansa is based in Cologne on Von-Gablenz-Strasse.

Last flight connections 1944

From 1943 to 1945, more and more routes were gradually closed due to the war. Now all Lufthansa pilots and the Lufthansa repair shops were subordinate to the Air Force. Lufthansa civil aircraft were converted into military transporters and misappropriated by the Air Force. On March 23, 1945 Lufthansa published its last flight plan. On April 21, 1945 Lufthansa carried out the last scheduled flight from Berlin and the very last flight of the "old" Lufthansa took off on April 22, 1945 from Berlin-Tempelhof to Warnemünde with a Ju-52 .

The fact that Lufthansa did not generally consist of sympathizers and followers of the Nazi regime is proven by the employment of Klaus Bonhoeffer , the brother of Dietrich Bonhoeffer , who has been in public opposition to the regime's church policy since 1933 . Klaus Bonhoeffer was a lawyer in the legal department of Lufthansa from 1935 and from 1939 its chief counsel until his arrest in connection with the assassination attempt on July 20, 1944 , in which he was privy, and as a result he was still 12 on April 22, 1945 Fellow prisoners was murdered by a shot in the neck.

After 19 years of company history, Deutsche Lufthansa AG came to an end: At the end of the war, the Allies placed aviation over German territory under their control and initially prohibited all civilian flights.

Only on January 1, 1951, the remaining assets of the old company Deutsche Lufthansa AG were completely liquidated by the Allies. This ended the corporate history of the "old Deutsche Lufthansa AG" from a legal point of view.

Entanglement in the Nazi regime / forced labor at Lufthansa during the Nazi era

Forced labor in the Lufthansa repair shop

At the beginning of the so-called Third Reich , until 1936, Lufthansa had the task of covering up armaments in aviation that were not permitted in Germany under the Versailles Peace Treaty . During the Second World War, Lufthansa's passenger planes were also used for war purposes.

According to the research results of Lutz Budraß from the Ruhr University Bochum , it was confirmed for the first time from a scientific perspective that in the period from 1933 to 1945 the "old" Lufthansa employed forced laborers . During this time, the company has at least 10,000 men and women from different regions because of their ethnic origin. their affiliation to the Jewish religion and their political convictions. Its main activity was the repair of air force aircraft .

“It turned out that Lufthansa's special role in the employment of forced laborers was not an aberration, a course of action that was imposed on it by the National Socialists or even the consequence of a National Socialist moral code, but a very deliberately accepted result of its economic strategy after the failure of the actual source of income to collect capital for a radical modernization of your fleet for air traffic in the post-war period. "

- Lutz Budraß in: Eagle and crane

In the documentary flying means winning. Journalist Christoph Weber reports the suppressed history of Deutsche Lufthansa on around 17,000 forced laborers, including Jewish Germans, Ukrainians, Russians and members of other nations, most of whom were forced to work in aircraft repairs in Berlin-Staaken , Berlin-Tempelhof and Leipzig-Schkeuditz , including children who had been dragged off the school desk, trained and transported to Germany.

Erich Schatzki escapes from the Nazi regime

Soon after the handover of power to the National Socialists on January 30, 1933, Lufthansa took Erich Schatzki , Technical Director of Lufthansa, on leave because of his Jewish origins. After the Netherlands was conquered by the Wehrmacht in 1940, the then Lufthansa director Carl August von Gablenz repeatedly warned him of the acute danger posed by the persecution of the Jews . Schatzki and his family then fled to the United States via France and Spain in June 1941.

Lufthansa Supervisory Board Chairman Erhard Milch

In the so-called Nuremberg Milk Trial from January 2 to April 17, 1947 before the American Military Court in Nuremberg, Erhard Milch, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG, which was only liquidated by the Allies in 1951 and at the same time former Field Marshal General, was charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity . Among other things, Milch was accused of complicity in the illegal pressing for forced labor and in the illegal use of prisoners of war for work that was directly connected to acts of war . He was also charged with co-responsibility for the mistreatment and murder of prisoners of war. By judgment of April 17, 1947, Milch was sentenced to life imprisonment (early release from prison on June 28, 1954).

Aircraft type in use at the old Lufthansa (including Luft Hansa)

Aircraft type First use Retired Number / note
Arado VI 1929 1929 1 cargo plane, destroyed in an accident
BFW M 20 1929 1931 14th
Blohm & Voss Ha 139 1937 1939 Seaplane for cargo service
Blohm & Voss BV 142 1939 1940 Cargo plane
Boeing 247 1935
Dornier Thu 18 1937 1939 Flying boat for cargo service
Dornier Do R 1928 1932 Flying boat
Dornier C III comet 1926 1933
Dornier Mercury 1927 30 high-deckers for 8 passengers; Luft Hansa was the main buyer of this type, which was considered the most economical aircraft of its time
Dornier whale 1926 1940 Flying boat for cargo service
Douglas DC-2 1935
Douglas DC-3 1940 1944
Focke-Wulf A 32 1934 2 machines from Nordbayerischen Verkehrsflug GmbH (NoBa)
Focke-Wulf A 33 1937 1938 1
Focke-Wulf A 38 1931 1934 4th
Focke-Wulf Fw 58 1938 1943 5
Focke-Wulf Fw 200 1938 1945
Fokker-Grulich F.II
Fokker-Grulich F.III 		1926 1935
Heinkel HE 12 1929 1931 1 machine in the postal service, written off after an accident
Heinkel HE 58 1930 1932 1 machine in the postal service
Heinkel He 70 1934 1937 Passenger and postal service
Heinkel He 111 1936 1940 Passenger service
Heinkel He 116 1938 Mail plane
Junkers F.13 1926 1938
Junkers G 24 1926 1938
Junkers G 31 1928 1935 8th
Junkers G 38 1930 1939 2, one of which was written off after an accident in 1936.
Junkers Ju 46 1932 1939 Postal service
Junkers Ju 52 1935 1945
Junkers Ju 86 1936 1945 5
Junkers Ju 90 1938 1940
Junkers Ju 160 1935 1941 21
Junkers Ju 290 1943 1945 3
Junkers W 33
Junkers W 34 		1929
1926 		1929 Postal service
Rohrbach Ro VIII 1927 1936
Rumpler CI 1926 at least 6, the Rumpler aviation purchased
Udet U 11 condor 1926 1928 1 (only built example), destroyed in an aircraft accident

Destinations

Note: There are no reliable sources about some of the airfields that existed and used at the time . These are marked with " Airfield unknown ".

Destinations in Europe until 1940

Belgium
Bulgaria
Denmark
German Empire
Estonia
Finland
France
General Government of Poland
Greece
Great Britain
Italy
Yugoslavia
Latvia
Lithuania
Netherlands
Norway
Portugal
Romania
Sweden
Switzerland
Soviet Union (USSR)
Spain
Slovakia
Turkey
Hungary

Flight destinations in the Middle East until 1940

Afghanistan
  • Herat - airfield unknown
  • Kabul - airfield unknown
Iran
Iraq
Syria

Flight destinations during the Second World War

Bulgaria
Denmark
Germany
Greece
Italy
Yugoslavia
Norway

In addition, the old Lufthansa used seaplanes to fly to destinations along the Norwegian coast from Trondheim to Kirkenes as planned.

Portugal
Romania
Sweden
Switzerland
Soviet Union (USSR)
Spain
Czechoslovakia
Turkey
Hungary

New start of scheduled air traffic in Germany

Individual former employees of the former "Lufthansa" (so-called "Lufthansa employees") tried shortly after the end of the war to re-establish the basis for civil air traffic in Germany. However, the victorious powers had initially banned both aircraft construction and flight operations. However, the Cold War and the so-called " economic miracle " at the beginning of the 1950s were one of the reasons why it was possible to fly again in Germany a short time after the Second World War and - both financially and technically -. In the course of the rapid reconstruction of civil aviation in Germany, the first West German airline was quickly founded , for which the company name “Lufthansa” was acquired at an early stage. In the further course of this, this airline - finally trading officially as Deutsche Lufthansa AG - developed into a profitable, modern and globally operating flag carrier .

CEO Period
Hans M. Bongers 1954-1964
The board members were equal.
In 1970 Herbert Culmann became the “Board Spokesman”.		 1965-1972
Herbert Culmann (1921–1998) 1972-1982
Heinz Ruhnau 1982-1991
Jürgen Weber 1991-2003
Wolfgang Mayrhuber 2003-2010
Christoph Franz 2011-2014
Carsten Spohr since 2014

In 1951, Federal Transport Minister Seebohm set up an aviation department in the Ministry of Transport and engaged Hans M. Bongers , the last transport manager of the "old" Lufthansa, with an "advisory contract for aviation matters". Shortly afterwards, the "Bongers Office" was founded in Cologne, in which former "Lufthansa employees" worked out documents which were intended to show the possibilities and advantages of a German airline for the Federal Republic of Germany . On April 15, 1952, it moved into rooms in the building of the Old University , Claudiusstrasse, which had been built in 1907 for the Cologne University of Commerce . Lufthansa was based here for 18 years until it moved to the Lufthansa high-rise in Deutz in 1969 .

On June 26, 1952, the federal government decided that a preparatory company should be established for the planned air traffic. On September 26, 1952, the federal government decided to prepare for the establishment of a stock corporation for aviation needs (LUFTAG) and supported it with DM 6 million share capital . All preparations for the establishment of a German airline company could thus be made. As in 1926, Kurt Weigelt from Deutsche Bank played a key role in building it up. Lucrative planes, low prices and good service with high reliability let the new airline fly quickly into the profit zone under the acquired company name "Lufthansa".

History of today's Deutsche Lufthansa AG

(For the fleet development of post-war Lufthansa see: Lufthansa, Former Aircraft of the Fleet .)

(For incidents at post-war Lufthansa, see: Lufthansa, Incidents .)

(For information on collective bargaining conflicts at post-war Lufthansa, see: Lufthansa, collective bargaining conflicts .)

Current logo of today's Deutsche Lufthansa AG since February 7, 2018. Since then, the traditional color yellow has only been used sporadically to highlight (e.g. information) or to loosen up the color (e.g. uniform scarf).
Current logo of the Lufthansa Group Lufthansa Group
Lufthansa seat 1952–1969, now Cologne University of Applied Sciences

Today's "new" Deutsche Lufthansa AG , founded on January 6, 1953 under the company name LUFTAG (Aktiengesellschaft für Luftverkehrsbedarf), was almost 100 percent state-owned until 1962. In 1966 the Lufthansa share was traded on the stock exchange for the first time . Until 1994 "Lufthansa" was the official flag carrier of the Federal Republic of Germany . Then the public sector reduced its stake from over 50 percent to just 34 percent of the shares. Since 1997, the German Lufthansa AG is fully privatized and now heads the entire Lufthansa Group ( Lufthansa Group ) , with the passenger transport in scheduled flight operations, remains the core business of the Group. In addition to the Lufthansa German Airlines ( Lufthansa German Airlines ), which is managed under sole responsibility by Deutsche Lufthansa AG, this “Passenger” segment includes numerous other group-owned airlines in Germany and abroad, each with its own management team under the supervision of Deutsche Lufthansa AG.

Regardless of the legal caesura (re-establishment), the new Deutsche Lufthansa AG was burdened with the Nazi past of the old Lufthansa due to personnel continuity in places . Kurt Weigelt ( Luft Hansa co-founder 1926), with a previous conviction of two years in prison for concealing his SS sponsoring membership and war crimes, was both the last deputy chairman of the supervisory board of the old Lufthansa and chairman of the supervisory board of the preparatory and founding company LUFTAG (1953–1954, see above) ) as well as today's Deutsche Lufthansa AG. Kurt Knipfer was a member of the above-mentioned supervisory boards in his role as a ministerial official both during the Nazi era and in the 1950s.

The 1950s

Lufthansa's first aircraft, a Convair 340 , was delivered in August 1954.

On January 6, 1953, the LUFTAG (Aktiengesellschaft für Luftverkehrsbedarf) was founded with the participation of North Rhine-Westphalia , the federal government and the Deutsche Bundesbahn . In August, LUFTAG ordered four Lockheed L-1049G “Super Constellations” . In November 1953, the pilot and flight attendant training for the first on-board personnel began.

On August 6, 1954, the ordinary general meeting of LUFTAG decided to change the name LUFTAG to " Deutsche Lufthansa AG " and this was provided with a capital of 50 million German marks (DM) (equal to 130 million euros adjusted for inflation ). On September 17, 1954, LUFTAG acquired the trademark rights of the old "Deutsche Lufthansa AG in Liquidation", including the crane logo and flag, for DM 30,000 (adjusted for inflation: EUR 78,000) . The share capital of six million DM came from the federal government and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. At the end of 1954, almost 600 people were already employed by the “new” Lufthansa.

Postage stamp (1955) (design: Karl Oskar Blase ) to mark the start of operations

In 1955, the allies gave the new Deutsche Lufthansa permission to buy four Convair CV-340s and, a little later, four Super Constellation aircraft. Trial traffic could begin on March 1, 1955. With the start of scheduled air traffic within West Germany on April 1, 1955, four Convair CV-340s were initially used. The first connections existed between Hamburg , Düsseldorf , Cologne / Bonn, Frankfurt and Munich . A short time later, Lockheed delivered the first Super Constellation long-haul aircraft on a non-stop flight from New York to Hamburg . According to statements by the former Lockheed seller Paul White, the board of directors of Deutsche Bank Hermann Josef Abs and the Federal Minister Franz Josef Strauss received funds in connection with the sale of Lockheed Constellation and Electra aircraft to Lufthansa.

"White told the foreign Ministry of Defense that Lockheed Frank Fahle has hired on a proposal by Herman Abs that paragraph and Strauss in connection with the sale of the Constellations and Electra at Lufthansa money got and that this pattern of action continues for the sale of 104 applies . "

- United States Department of State

On May 15, 1955, the first destinations abroad could be flown to. On July 8, 1955, she was accepted into the IATA and on the same day the scheduled North Atlantic service began (initially with US pilots from the TWA ). Just two months later, the North Atlantic was flown over for the hundredth time. At the beginning of September 1955, the federal government chartered two Super Constellations for Konrad Adenauer's and his delegation's trip to Moscow to negotiate the release of the last German prisoners of war ( "Return of the Ten Thousand" ). One of the two machines is on display in the Hermeskeil flight exhibition .

The commercial aviation school in Hamburg opened on October 1st. Stuttgart was added as a new destination at the beginning of November.

On December 21, 1955, the charter company Deutscher Flugdienst was founded as a subsidiary of Deutsche Lufthansa AG and at the same time as a joint venture with Deutsche Bundesbahn, Norddeutscher Lloyd , Hapag, Deutsche Dampfschiffahrtsgesellschaft- "Hansa" and the Hamburg-America Line , which later became the Condor Flugdienst emerged (first flight on April 1, 1956).

Lockheed L-1049G Super Constellation in DLH colors

Both Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Deutsche Lufthansa (Ost), founded in 1955 by the government of the GDR, initially used trademarks of the "old Lufthansa". However, the GDR government had failed to secure the name and trademark rights for Deutsche Lufthansa (Ost) beforehand, so that in 1958 it was renamed Interflug under international pressure .

At the end of March 1956, a Super Constellation took off for the first time with an exclusively German crew in the United States . A month later, Montréal and Chicago were chosen as new destinations in North America. On May 1, 1956, was commercial pilot school of Lufthansa in Bremen opened. In August 1956 the South American service was started with the destinations Rio de Janeiro , São Paulo and Buenos Aires . From September 1956 Lufthansa flew to the Near and Middle East to Istanbul , Beirut , Baghdad and Tehran . Since these missions abroad at the latest, Lufthansa has been the flag carrier of the Federal Republic of Germany .

As of April 2, 1957, five new Convair CV-440s were in the fleet. The connection to Austria was established in mid-April 1957. A further development of the Super Constellation , the Lockheed Starliner , flew 9,300 kilometers non-stop from California to Hamburg in 1957. In December 1957, a chartered Douglas DC-4 opened a freight service from Germany to the USA. From January 5, 1957, the new Lockheed Starliners flew the Frankfurt – New York route non-stop in passenger service. There were now 30 transatlantic flights a week. The total traffic volume increased by a good 60 percent compared to the previous year. A European freight service was set up together with British European Airways (BEA).

Vickers 814D Viscount from Lufthansa

From October 1958, the Lufthansa fleet was expanded to include new Vickers Viscount turboprop aircraft . The Super Constellation were also used on the medium-haul routes. From November 1958, flights to Cairo were added.

In 1959, Deutsche Lufthansa AG took over the shares of the previous co-shareholders of "Condor Flugdienst" and opened its non-stop freight service from Frankfurt to New York. In April 1959 a line to Stockholm was set up and in May 1959 Athens was flown for the first time . On January 11, 1959, the Super Constellation with the registration number D-ALAK on Lufthansa flight 502 crashed while approaching Rio de Janeiro airport . All 29 passengers and seven of the ten crew members died. In the 1959 winter flight schedule , Karachi , Bangkok and Calcutta were on the flight schedule for the first time.

The 1960s

Lufthansa Boeing 707

The 1960s were characterized by a belief in progress and unlimited growth. The jet plane was the focus of interest. In particular, new cargo airlines accelerated the transport of goods. Scheduled flights to the Eastern Bloc overcame ideological borders.

Summer flight schedule 1961

The jet age began for the German company with the first Lufthansa Boeing 707 , which arrived in Hamburg on March 2, 1960. The first passenger flight with this machine took place on March 13, 1960 from Hamburg via Frankfurt / M. to New York instead.

From 1961 the connection from Bangkok to Tokyo was extended and switched to the Boeing 707. In addition to the long-haul type 707, four (in the following year four more) medium-haul aircraft of the type Boeing 720-030B were added, which from July 1961 served the connections to the Near and Middle East and Africa ( Lagos ). Two Boeing 720s (D-ABOK and D-ABOP) crashed in 1961 and 1964 during training flights over West German territory. From September 1, 1961, a night mail flight network was set up and served by Convair CV-440 and Viscount machines. In December 1961, a pure cargo service was also set up on the North Atlantic route in cooperation with Seaboard World Airlines .

In 1962 Lufthansa started a scheduled service to Africa. From March 1962, there were two weekly flights to Lagos in Nigeria. From May 1962 Johannesburg was served with stopovers in Athens , Khartoum , Nairobi and Salisbury (today's Harare).

From 1963, the propeller-driven aircraft of the Lockheed Super Constellation type, which were actually designed for long-haul routes, were increasingly used on short-haul routes. From April 1, 1963, it was used on a trial basis under the name “Airbus” in a shuttle service between Frankfurt and Hamburg, which was designed without booking, handling and on-board service. The prices for the domestic German routes were at the level of the rail prices. The Bundesbahn filed a complaint against it. The first flights to Palma de Mallorca started in 1963 .

Curtiss C-46 Commando in action for Lufthansa

A civil case brought by Deutsche Lufthansa AG before the Higher Commercial Court of the Republic of Serbia in Belgrade for trademark infringement against Deutsche Lufthansa (Ost) was suspended in September 1963 after the GDR's Transport Minister proposed that Deutsche Lufthansa (Ost) should be pending due to a lack of prospects of success Dissolve process. Deutsche Lufthansa (Ost) , which had existed since 1954, was finally liquidated by the GDR leadership on September 1, 1963 for trademark and economic reasons and its aircraft, airports and route rights were taken over by the airline Interflug , which now became the only airline based in the GDR .

From March 1964 to 1969 Lufthansa used a total of nine Curtiss C-46s as freighter on intra-European routes. They were operated by Capitol International Airways in full Lufthansa livery. From 1964, the short and medium-haul range was switched from propeller to jet aircraft. The remaining six medium-haul Boeing 720 aircraft did not meet the expectations and were sold to Pan American World Airways .

Lufthansa Boeing 727-200

On March 21, 1964, Lufthansa's first Boeing 727 landed after its transfer flight. This type then became the standard short and medium-haul aircraft of Lufthansa. On the Frankfurt – Hamburg – Copenhagen – Anchorage – Tokyo route, the polar route was flown for the first time in regular service , which sometimes also led directly over the North Pole, depending on the wind conditions.

The fifth continent, Australia, was served from April 1, 1965. From May to December 1965 Lufthansa used its own Boeing 707 as well as a Douglas DC-8 leased from Trans International Airlines on transatlantic flights. Jet planes were also used in freight traffic. At the beginning of November 1965, the first Boeing 707 in cargo version was delivered. Ten Boeing 727s were delivered in a combinable cargo / passenger version. It was possible to switch quickly between the two possible uses (quick change). In 1965, Lufthansa was the first airline in the world to order 21 Boeing 737s (called "City Jet" in Lufthansa jargon). The aircraft was still under construction when the order was placed. Lufthansa engineers worked on the further development and testing, so that Lufthansa received an aircraft that was tailor-made for its operational needs.

From January 1966, Tunis was served . The west coast of South America has now also been reached via New York. On January 28, 1966, the Convair CV-440 Metropolitan D-ACAT crashed in Bremen ( Lufthansa flight 005 ). Prague was the first city in what was then the Eastern Bloc to be flown to. A charter flight to Moscow took place on April 6, 1966. Another subsidiary, Lufthansa Service GmbH, was founded on July 1, 1966. The “Airbus” shuttle service was discontinued in 1966 after the Federal Railroad had implemented a price increase at the then state-owned Lufthansa, which made the shuttle concept no longer attractive. From December 1966 a route to Khartoum , Entebbe and Dar es Salaam was added to the flight plan. In order to be able to provide adequate accommodation for passengers there, Lufthansa took a stake in the Deutsche Hotelgesellschaft für Entwicklungsländer mbH. At the end of 1966 Lufthansa had a total of 54 aircraft, 31 of them with jet engines.

In 1967 a line to Bogotá was set up for the first time . The states in Eastern Europe became increasingly interesting for Lufthansa from 1967 onwards. Lines to Belgrade, Zagreb , Bucharest and Budapest were created. On October 6, 1967, the use of long-range piston aircraft ended: the last Super Constellation was retired. In December 1967, Boeing delivered the first Boeing 737 aircraft to Lufthansa.

On January 1, 1968, the charter company Südflug , which had run into financial difficulties, was taken over by Deutsche Lufthansa AG. In addition to Helsinki, Genoa and Naples , Tel Aviv was also served from 1968 . In the same year La Paz and Lima were also among the South American Lufthansa destinations, served with the Boeing 707 and later with the DC-10 via New York . Rio de Janeiro was also flown to with DC-10 from Frankfurt via Dakar as a refueling stop.

On March 14, 1969 Lufthansa founded the ATLAS consortium together with Air France , UTA , Alitalia and Sabena . The four companies agreed on a long-term cooperation and distribution of tasks to the training, maintenance and operating costs when using the ordered widebody aircraft of the types Boeing 747 and Douglas DC-10 be kept as low as possible.

The 1970s

Boeing 747-230F D-ABYO , the world's first cargo jumbo

According to the NZZ, there was a “high probability” of protection money payments being transferred to Palestinian command groups in the 1970s .

Lufthansa’s first Boeing 747 was already in service in March 1970 . In public, the name "Jumbo Jet" was coined for what was then the largest passenger aircraft in the world. In March 1972 Lufthansa was the first airline to put the cargo-only version of the Boeing 747 into service. On November 20, 1974, the Boeing 747 "Hessen" (D-ABYB) crashed in Nairobi due to insufficient buoyancy at takeoff. 84 of the 139 passengers and 13 of the 17 crew members were able to save themselves from the burning wreckage (see: Lufthansa flight 540 ).

On February 2, 1976, the Airbus A300 , the first wide-body airliner built in Europe, was put into service. The machine of the type A300B4 with the serial no. 21 had the registration D-AIAA. Orders from Lufthansa and Air France , both state flag carriers of the major shareholders in Airbus Industrie , the Federal Republic of Germany and France, enabled the series production of this aircraft. On March 10, 1977 Lufthansa founded its own non-IATA freight subsidiary, the German Cargo subsidiary , which took over the freight charter business for Lufthansa. Freight-only versions of the Boeing 707 were initially used .

On October 13, 1977, Lufthansa’s Boeing 737-200 “Landshut” (D-ABCE) was hijacked by four Palestinian terrorists on its flight from Palma de Mallorca to Frankfurt and on October 18, 1977 by GSG 9 in operation “Magic Fire “ Freed. On July 26, 1979, D-ABUY, a Boeing 707-330C freighter , had an accident on flight LH 527 to Senegal ( Dakar ) shortly after take-off from Rio de Janeiro airport . The three-man crew was killed.

Another interesting Lufthansa connection in these years was the flight with Boeing 747-200 or DC-10 twice a week over the North Pole from Düsseldorf via Anchorage (Alaska) (refueling stop) to Tokyo.

The 1980s

At the beginning of the 1980s, the company began to replace its 747 fleet with the second generation with fuel-efficient engines. Since other companies were still converting their fleets to wide-body aircraft, Lufthansa achieved a high price thanks to the thorough and regular maintenance of the approximately ten-year-old aircraft. In some cases, the sales price was even higher than the original purchase price. The 727-100 fleet was also replaced. Instead, the longer 727-200s were purchased. Another exchange campaign took place in 1981, in which 36 Boeing City Jets were exchanged for new machines. At the same time, Lufthansa stopped training flight engineers because the Boeing 737 and the Airbus A310 no longer needed a third man in the cockpit. Instead, Lufthansa started to retrain them to become pilots if they were suitably qualified.

DB class 403 multiple unit as Lufthansa Airport Express
Locomotive from the DB series 103 as Lufthansa Airport Express

On March 28, 1982, Lufthansa began working with Deutsche Bundesbahn, as air traffic between many German airports was considered unprofitable when viewed in isolation. So four times a day electric multiple units of the DB series 403 , later also DB trains with electric locomotives of the series 103 and 111 in the colors of Lufthansa operated as Lufthansa Airport Express between Düsseldorf, Cologne, Bonn and Frankfurt with four-digit Lufthansa -Flight number. DB tickets were not valid on the trains. During the journey, passengers were able to check in for their subsequent long-haul flight and also hand in their luggage. In the first year of operation, Lufthansa already carried over 65,000 passengers on rail. A rail connection between Stuttgart and Frankfurt followed later. The service was discontinued in 1993. As a follow-up project, Lufthansa has been marketing allotments of seats in certain ICE trains under the name AIRail since 1993 in cooperation with Deutsche Bahn AG .

In April 1983 the Airbus A310 was put into service at Lufthansa. Lufthansa played a key role in the planning and development. During the construction of this aircraft, Lufthansa, together with Swissair , gave the decisive factor for the production of this short and medium-haul aircraft with their order for 25 machines and an option for a further 25 A310s. In August 1984 the Dutch Penta Hotels NV (Amsterdam) was taken over. In October 1984, at the annual meeting of the International Air Transport Association , the Lufthansa board member Günter O. Eser was elected general director and Heinz Ruhnau was elected President of the IATA. As of December, Lufthansa acquired a 10 percent stake in Berlin's Kempinski Hotelbetriebs-Aktiengesellschaft.

Aircraft from Lufthansa , Air France and EuroBerlin

The deregulation of the EC allowed the " fifth freedom " in air traffic in 1988 and a new competitor, German Wings , was now allowed to offer low-cost offers. As part of the Franco-German cooperation , Air France founded the airline EuroBerlin France with a 49 percent stake in Lufthansa and 51 percent in Air France. In this way, Lufthansa was able to indirectly gain access to West Berlin ( slot ). The Franco-German airline began flight operations on November 7, 1988. It connected Berlin-Tegel Airport with the western German metropolises of Düsseldorf , Frankfurt , Hamburg , Cologne , Stuttgart and Munich . Only modern Boeing 737-300s were used as aircraft, the seating capacity of which was on average 60 percent full. With the reunification of Germany, EuroBerlin France lost its original (strategic market) importance (it was renamed EuroBerlin in 1990 and flew on behalf of Lufthansa until it was dissolved in December 1994). In 1989, Deutsche Lufthansa AG increased its capital stake in DLT - Deutsche Luftverkehrsgesellschaft mbH - to 52 percent and thus became the majority shareholder in DLT, which later became a 100 percent subsidiary of Deutsche Lufthansa AG as Lufthansa CityLine GmbH (see history of Lufthansa CityLine ).

As a joint venture of Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Turkish Airlines was founded in 1989, the charter airline Sun Express with first a Boeing 737-300 founded and 64 employees (see History of Sun Express ).

The 1990s

On July 1, 1990, the eve of the economic and monetary union between the Federal Republic of Germany and the GDR, the executive board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG agreed to take over 100% of the shares in Interflug . The first result was the charter deployment of Interflug planes on behalf of the Lufthansa Group. However, the merger sought by the two airlines was rejected by the Federal Cartel Office on July 30, 1990. The brand new Airbus A310 aircraft acquired by Interflug in 1989 were sold - instead of to Lufthansa - for 25 percent of their purchase price to the flight readiness of the Federal Ministry of Defense . The reunification of Germany on October 3, 1990 enabled Lufthansa to fly to Berlin again for the first time 45 years after the end of the Second World War .

On September 14, 1993, the Airbus A320 "Kulmbach" (D-AIPN) crashed on Lufthansa flight 2904 while landing in Warsaw. Of the 70 people on board, 68 were able to save themselves from the burning wreck. The subsidiary German Cargo was reintegrated into the parent company in 1993.

The liberalization of the transatlantic air transport market began in April 1996 with the German-American agreement in air transport, and competition intensified. In addition, like all airlines in the EU, Lufthansa was confronted with intensifying competition as a result of the deregulation of air traffic in the EU. Lufthansa overcame its greatest economic crisis with an extensive restructuring program . The company, which until now was mostly owned by the public sector, was fully privatized in several steps after the difficult problem of separating the company pension scheme from the public service system ( VBL ) had been resolved together with the federal government and the responsible trade unions ÖTV and DAG was. The federal government helped out with considerable financial resources. At the end of the privatization, the federal government only owned 36% of the shares. The technology, freight and IT business areas were now operated as subsidiaries of the Lufthansa Group with their own responsibility for costs. Within the Lufthansa route network, airlines such as Augsburg Airways and Contact Air operated regional and feeder flights under the Team Lufthansa brand from 1996 .

Airbus A340-300 in Star Alliance livery

In 1997 Lufthansa, Air Canada , SAS , Thai Airways and United Airlines, as the founders of the Star Alliance, formed the first multilateral business alliance in world aviation, which other airlines joined in order to meet the new challenges of deregulation and globalization .

Lufthansa and KarstadtQuelle AG founded C&N Touristic AG on November 1st in 1997 by merging NUR Touristic and Condor Flugdienst (formerly Deutsche Flugdienst GmbH ). Both shareholders held 50% of the group. NUR Touristik belonged to 90% of C&N Touristik and 10% directly to Karstadt , as did Condor , which belonged 90% to C&N Touristik and 10% directly to Lufthansa.

The years 2000 to 2009

The opportunities and risks of globalization shaped the transition of the Lufthansa Group into the 21st century. The group positioned itself with a restructuring of its regional transport markets, the redesign of the First, Business and Economy Class as well as the order of the most modern aircraft types (including the Airbus A380 ) for the intensified competition in the age of globalization. By making it possible to use broadband Internet connections on board, Lufthansa created a further competitive advantage, especially for business travelers. The Munich Airport had for Lufthansa now as a second hub next to the Frankfurt airport a significant market of strategic importance. The Star Alliance joined other airlines. The Lufthansa Group's outstanding business results were, however, severely affected by decisive events: The terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 temporarily led to a drop in passenger numbers. On the Asian routes the first time in November 2002 occurring in China called had severe acute respiratory syndrome ( Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome , SARS) an additional temporary decline in passenger numbers result. The indirect consequences of new wars, especially the Iraq war , also had a negative impact on the operating result.

On July 1, 2007, the Lufthansa Group became the sole owner of Swiss

In 2005 the “new Lufthansa” celebrated its 50th anniversary since the resumption of air traffic in 1955. In March 2005, Deutsche Lufthansa AG acquired a 49 percent stake in the scheduled airline Swiss . On the basis of a voting pooling agreement, Swiss was actually managed by the Lufthansa Group and integrated into the Lufthansa Group's management. The Zurich Airport , home base of the Swiss, the third hub of Lufthansa was. On April 1, 2006, Swiss, which is part of the Lufthansa Group, joined the Star Alliance.

In December 2006 Lufthansa and Karstadt Quelle signed a letter of intent according to which the Lufthansa Group will transfer its 50 percent stake in Thomas Cook to Karstadt Quelle for a purchase price of around EUR 800 million. At the same time it was agreed that Lufthansa would receive Condor's shares in the Turkish charter airline Sun Express . Karstadt Quelle can take over Lufthansa's 24.9% stake in Condor two years after the conclusion of the purchase agreement. In return, the Lufthansa Group has a put option on Karstadt Quelle's capital share (75.1%). The takeover took place officially in February 2007.

Today's logo of the Condor Flugdienst with a resemblance to the Lufthansa logo

The Lufthansa Group has been the sole owner of Swiss International Air Lines since July 1, 2007 . Previously, for legal reasons, until the renegotiation of bilateral air traffic rights (especially landing rights) between Switzerland and a total of more than 140 non-European countries, only 49% belonged to the Lufthansa Group. Due to a so-called nationality clause (majority owners of the airline had to come from Switzerland), the remaining 51% remained with the Swiss Almea Foundation , which was set up specifically for this purpose , but the Lufthansa Group already had operational decision-making power due to contractual provisions. In this ratio (51:49), Almea and Lufthansa were the owners of AirTrust AG , which in turn was the sole owner of Swiss. Thus, Swiss was considered a Swiss company and was able to retain the existing traffic rights in countries outside the European Union , which have always been regulated internationally and not sold to other countries. At the beginning of December 2008, a contract was signed between Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Austrian Airlines to take over this Austrian airline. Since January 1, 2009, the Lufthansa Group has been running the low-cost airline Germanwings as a wholly-owned subsidiary under the umbrella of Lufthansa Commercial Holding.

2010 to 2019

The former Lufthansa Tower 1969-2007, rebuilt from 2010 to 2013 and now Lanxess Tower called

For the 2010 soccer World Cup in South Africa, LH used the newly acquired Airbus A380 for the first time on an official Lufthansa flight. The German national soccer team was one of the passengers .

At the beginning of May 2012, 3,500 of the 120,000 jobs were cut worldwide, 2,500 of them in Germany. A savings program called 'Score' should save 1.5 billion euros by 2014. The head office in Cologne-Deutz was closed at the end of 2017 .

In August 2014, CEO Carsten Spohr started an innovation offensive in which around 500 million euros should be invested by 2020. With the Lufthansa Innovation Hub, the aviation group wants to move closer to the startup scene. The unit established in Berlin- Kreuzberg is led by Spohr's former speaker Sebastian Herzog, Marketing Manager Alexander Schlaubitz and start-up serial entrepreneur Gleb Tritus. This included an innovation fund and a central unit that is to unite the innovation managers of the subsidiaries.

In 2014 and 2015 there were a total of 14 strikes by pilots and flight attendants. In 2015, profit before tax increased by 55% to 1.8 billion euros .

After the crash of Germanwings flight 9525 , Lufthansa canceled the planned celebration for the 60th anniversary of the resumption of flight operations. The celebrations scheduled for April 15 would not take place "out of respect for the victims of the crash of flight 4U9525". "Instead of the planned anniversary event, Lufthansa will broadcast the state ceremony from Cologne Cathedral, at which relatives and friends will commemorate the victims on April 17, 2015, for its employees."

In October 2017 Lufthansa took over 81 planes from the insolvent Air Berlin . The total purchase price for the shares acquired by Lufthansa from the Air-Berlin bankruptcy estate was around 210 million euros. Lufthansa had previously taken over the airline Walter as a subsidiary, which hired the cabin crew dismissed as a result of the insolvency of Air Berlin as a personnel pool for Lufthansa on a temporary contract basis . At the same time, further employees were recruited.

Since 2020

15 Lufthansa aircraft parked at Berlin Brandenburg Airport on March 21, 2020

On March 19, 2020 Lufthansa announced that it would cancel 95 percent of all flights due to the entry bans imposed by many countries as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic . The group's flight offer has been limited to three international and 40 intra-European connections per day. In addition, Lufthansa flew the flights organized by the Foreign Office for travelers returning.

With an amendment to the Foreign Trade Act passed in May 2020, the federal government created an "economic stabilization fund" that is supposed to pay silent contributions of up to 5.7 billion euros to the assets of Deutsche Lufthansa AG. The payment is to be remunerated and the fund is to subscribe to 20 percent of Lufthansa's share capital by means of a capital increase. Later this share is even to be increased to 25 percent in order to be able to ward off any hostile takeover. In addition, the federal government will have two seats on the supervisory board in the future. In addition, Lufthansa is to receive a loan of up to 3 billion euros with the participation of KfW and private banks with a term of three years. The European Commission has yet to approve the federal government's rescue operation.

As a result of the pandemic, the company does not expect to return to the previous fleet size of 763 aircraft in the next few years and expects significantly fewer passengers. Older aircraft are to be withdrawn from the fleet earlier than planned.

In September 2020 Lufthansa decided to stop pilot training in Bremen and asked its flight students to look for a new career path.

Airplane painting through the ages

Corporate Design

Since the re-establishment of the airline Lufthansa, the aircraft paintwork has been changed more often while retaining the Lufthansa colors blue and yellow from the time of the “old Lufthansa”, the crane symbol and the white paintwork on the upper fuselage. The changes always showed a tendency towards stylistic simplification - right up to the “timeless” minimalist design of today's fleets under the Lufthansa brand name .

Boeing 707-330B in the livery of the 1950s at New York International Airport
From 1955
Boeing 707-430 painted in the 1960s at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport

While the old Lufthansa aircraft were still metallic gray with a black front area, from 1955 an elaborate painting with a cobalt blue window band ( RAL 5013) with melon yellow accompanying stripes (RAL 1028) was introduced, above which the fuselage was painted white, underneath it had a metallic sheen . The tail unit carried a cobalt blue bar, inside which was a cobalt blue, melon yellow parabolic surface with the crane emblem that opened towards the rear tail unit edge. The lettering "LUFTHANSA" was written in italic letters with serifs above the window band. The front was originally blue, merging into the ribbon of windows in an arch. The front radar cover ("aircraft nose") was set off in black.

The painting was simplified for the first time as early as the early 1960s, the accompanying strips on the window strip were omitted and instead of the complex front painting, the window strips were continued straight to the cockpit windows. The company name has now been written in Helvetica capital letters. The signet was partly in place of the parabola in a yellow bar on the tail unit.

From 1967

In 1967, Otl Aicher redesigned Lufthansa’s appearance . The emblem was now in a cobalt blue bordered melon yellow circular disc on the cobalt blue painted tail, the lettering "Lufthansa" was written in Helvetica (upper and lower case letters). The hull painting remained the same, but the yellow accompanying stripes were no longer there.

From 1988

Since 1988, Lufthansa aircraft have been painted predominantly white, the lower fuselage area in light gray. The ribbon window was left out, the nose of the aircraft was painted white. The design of the tail unit and the Lufthansa lettering on the front fuselage area have remained almost unchanged since 1967, but the circular border of the crane emblem on the tail unit was slightly widened from 1988. According to Lufthansa, this design stands for “clarity, simplicity and positive features such as security and reliability”. The web address “lufthansa.com” in Helvetica has been on the back of the fuselage since around 2010.

As of 2018
Boeing 747 in the livery presented at the beginning of February 2018

At the beginning of 2018, a new paint scheme was introduced, in which the blue coloring of the tail unit was replaced by a darker color as the dominant element, the crane is now in white and the color yellow is only a "Welcome" sign next to the front entrance door on the left Side has been preserved, the gray coloring of the underside of the fuselage has been completely eliminated. The previously used Lufthansa Head and Lufthansa Type fonts have been replaced by the new Lufthansa Corporate Type font . The first aircraft to be repainted were a Boeing 747-8 (registration D-ABYA) and an Airbus A321 (registration D-AISP) and presented to the public in Frankfurt and Munich on February 7, 2018. Due to criticism after the presentation of the new livery, the group announced at the end of February 2018 that it would revise the blue tone, but the basic design should be retained. Lufthansa Cargo's planes will also have the new design in the future: on March 16, 2018, the D-ALCB , an MD-11, landed in Frankfurt as the first plane from the freight subsidiary in a new livery, in order to fly to Singapore the same day.

Ju 52 of the Deutsche Lufthansa Berlin Foundation

An airworthy Junkers JU 52 in the Lufthansa colors from the 1920s is now operated by the Deutsche Lufthansa Berlin Foundation .

Previous special paintings

In addition to the aircraft painting in the regular Lufthansa colors, special paintwork was or is often seen on scheduled services:

Although Deutsche Lufthansa AG was not one of the official sponsors of the 2006 soccer World Cup in Germany, it provided some of its Lufthansa aircraft with a "soccer nose", be it in standard paintwork or in the alliance colors, by including the radar antenna cladding on the bow the typical black pentagons and white hexagons of classic leather football were decorated (in the picture the Boeing 747-400 Duisburg of Lufthansa in Star Alliance colors together with the Lufthansa “football nose”).
Aircraft type Aircraft registration Painting Period picture
Airbus A320-200 D-AIUQ "25 Years of Munich Airport " May 2017 to January 2018
D-AIUQ 05062017LHR (34346828604) .jpg
Airbus A321-100 D-AIRR "Crane Protection Germany" October 2016 to May 2017
Lufthansa (Crane Protection Germany livery), D-AIRR, Airbus A321-131 (33060694185) .jpg
D-AIRX " Retro " On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Deutsche Lufthansa AG in 2005, the Lufthansa Airbus A321 with the registration D-AIRX was given a nostalgic special paint job from April 2005 to December 2014, reminiscent of the Lufthansa paint scheme in the mid-1950s and thus to remind of the " early days of the new Lufthansa ".
D-AIRX (5603195212) (2) .jpg
D-AISQ " Fanhansa team flyer " June / July 2018 D-AISQ A321 Lufthansa team pilot Fahnhansa livery VKO UUWW (41859330865) .jpg
Airbus A340-300 D-AIGX
D-AIGY 		" Star Alliance " GX: December 2015 to March 2018
GY: December 2015 to March 2018
Lufthansa, D-AIGX, Airbus A340-313 (20344963242) .jpg
Airbus A340-600 D-AIHK
D-AIHZ 		" FC Bayern Munich " HK: July 2016 to June 2017
HZ: July 2017 to March 2018
D-AIHZ @ PEK (20170907125248) .jpg
Boeing 747-8I D-ABYI " Fanhansa Siegerflieger " May 2014 to July 2018
D-ABYI (19019468563) .jpg

Since every member of the Star Alliance has undertaken to paint at least one aircraft in its fleet in the corporate design of the Star Alliance, there are also aircraft in the Lufthansa fleet with the Star Alliance livery, which have a design similar to that of the The Star Alliance livery of the other alliance members can only be distinguished by the respective, discreetly affixed Lufthansa company logo. For similar reasons, as in the Star Alliance, an airplane flew Lufthansa Cargo AG in WOW -Look to promote world for these logistics alliance.

The Airbus A321 D-AIRY "Flensburg" showed the television character "Die Maus" at the rear, as the creation and commissioning of the aircraft was filmed in nine episodes by WDR in 1999 for Die Sendung mit der Maus .

See also

literature

  • Joachim Wachtel, Günter Ott: In the sign of the crane. The history of Lufthansa from its beginnings to 1945. Piper, Munich 2016, ISBN 978-3-492-05788-2 .
  • Lutz Budraß : eagle and crane. Lufthansa and its history 1926–1955. Blessing, Munich 2016, ISBN 978-3-89667-481-4 .
  • Jochen K. Beeck: Under the sign of the crane. Lufthansa aircraft 1926–2006. Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-613-02668-6 .
  • Günter Stauch (Ed.): The big book of Lufthansa. From the 'Aunt Ju' to the super jumbo. Verlag Geramond, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-7654-7248-4 .
  • Joachim Wachtel, Rita Temme-Storbeck, Horst Wähner: Time in flight. History of Deutsche Lufthansa from 1926 to 1990 . Deutsche Lufthansa, Frankfurt am Main ²2005.

documentary

  • To fly means to win. The suppressed history of Deutsche Lufthansa. Documentary by Christoph Weber . WDR / HR 2009.

Web links

Commons : Deutsche Luft Hansa  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ chronik.lufthansagroup.com
  2. ↑ Lutz Budrass : Eagle and Crane, Lufthansa and its history 1926-1955 , Blessing Verlag 2016 ISBN 978-3-641-11246-2
  3. ↑ Johannes Bähr : Review by Lutz Budrass, Adler und Kranich in: Sehepunkte Issue 17 (2017), No. 10, accessed on August 7, 2018
  4. ↑ Sarah Hofmann: History of Lufthansa, outrage over the lack of clarification in Deutschlandfunk from May 2, 2016, accessed on August 7, 2018
  5. ↑ Nana Brink, Interview with Johannes Bähr: How German companies deal with their history in Deutschlandfunk Kultur from April 14, 2016, accessed on August 7, 2018
  6. ↑ Design diary, Das Lufthansa-Design 1962 , accessed on March 17, 2018
  7. ↑ Uwe Mehlitz: Giant cigars and silver cranes over Berlin: The Staaken airship and airport - an important place in aviation history. 2017, Kindle Edition
  8. ↑ The future is in the air too. Rheinbahn AG website on the company's history ( memento from December 23, 2010 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on August 15, 2010.
  9. ↑ “As you can see in the April 1926 issue of the early aviation magazine 'Ikarus', the name of the planned new airline, reminiscent of the medieval Hanseatic League, was 'born' in Dresden - it is said to have been used for the first time in the summer of 1924 in Dresden's town hall the opening of the Dresden - Munich flight connection was celebrated. ”Quoted from: The name Luft Hansa was born in Dresden ( Memento from January 30, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) , announcement from the Lufthansa Group of August 10, 2015 (PDF). Retrieved January 30, 2017.
  10. ^ The collaboration of the airplane with the other means of transport , Major Martin Wronsky, in the magazine L'Aérophile , Paris, December 1935, Bibliothèque nationale de France (French).
  11. ↑ a b c d e f g h Lorenz Sönnichen: 40 years of transport policy. BMV 1990, pp. 104-106.
  12. ^ The Aéro Lloyd-Junkers merger , in the magazine L'Aéronautique , Paris, February 1926, Bibliothèque nationale de France (French)
  13. ↑ ARD / arte documentation from July 2010 by Christoph Weber : "To fly means to win - The suppressed history of Deutsche Lufthansa"
  14. ↑ SPIEGEL article from August 3, 2010: "Crane under the swastika"
  15. ↑ Jan Scheper: Der Führer flew free of charge taz.de, from July 21, 2010, accessed on July 22, 2010.
  16. ↑ Joachim Huber: Passenger Hitler Tagesspiegel, July 21, 2010.
  17. ↑ Lutz Budrass : Eagle and Crane, Lufthansa and its history 1926-1955 , Introduction, Blessing Verlag 2016 ISBN 978-3-641-11246-2
  18. ^ The air Hansa and your lines , in the magazine L'Aéronautique , Paris, November 1926, Bibliothèque nationale de France (French)
  19. ↑ Hans-Ulrich Ohl: Beacons show the way through the darkness. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, January 3, 2009.
  20. ↑ a b Lufthansa - history in brief. Archived from the original on October 22, 2009 ; accessed on February 17, 2015 .
  21. ^ German air traffic 1929 , in the magazine L'Argus économique d'Indochine , Paris, May 8, 1930, Bibliothèque nationale de France (French).
  22. ^ Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft (Ed.): Official Gazette of the Reichsbahndirektion in Mainz of November 15, 1930, No. 54. Announcement No. 764, p. 345.
  23. ↑ Lexicon of Aviation , Springer Verlag 2007, ISBN 978-3-540-49095-1 , page 395
  24. ^ "Condor" record flights from Berlin to New York to Berlin, Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Cologne, company archive
  25. ^ "Condor" record flight Berlin – Tokyo, Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Cologne, company archive
  26. ↑ Manfred Köhler, TV film causes unrest at Lufthansa , in: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , Rhein-Main, August 4, 2010 ( online )
  27. ↑ taz.de: Arte-Doku - Der Führer flew for free, July 21, 2010
  28. ↑ ARD / arte documentation from July 2010 by Christoph Weber : "To fly means to win - The suppressed history of Deutsche Lufthansa"
  29. ↑ timetableimages.com
  30. ^ A b timetableimages.com
  31. ^ Mathias Weber: The old University of Cologne. In: Rheinische Kunststätten. Issue 269, 1982, p. 29.
  32. ↑ a b The brown history of Lufthansa. In: Mittelbayerische Zeitung. March 11, 2016.
  33. ^ From the "Chronicle of Frankfurt am Main Airport: From the estate of Traffic Director Rudolf Lange of Flughafen Frankfurt AG" by Rudolf Lange, International Advisory Group Air Navigation Services (ANSA), October 1, 1975.
  34. ↑ Caption on the website of the Nyhetsbyrån photo and news agency
  35. ↑ Christoph Weber , in “To fly means to win. The suppressed history of Deutsche Lufthansa ”, Documentation 2009, produced by WDR
  36. ^ Crane under the swastika - Lutz Budrass in conversation with Katrin Heise , recording by Deutschlandfunk from March 12, 2016.
  37. ^ "Arms Sales in Germany" (Nov. 6, 1975). United States Department of State, November 6, 1975, accessed December 12, 2010 .
  38. ^ "Arms Sales in Germany (January 6, 1976)". United States Department of State, January 6, 1976, accessed December 12, 2010 .
  39. ↑ rzjets, Lufthansa Boeing 720 (English), accessed on October 17, 2018.
  40. ↑ In the footsteps of the Würenlingen assassins , NZZ, May 12, 2018, page 15
  41. ↑ Aircraft accident data and report in the Aviation Safety Network (English)
  42. ↑ | www.4investors.de. Retrieved September 23, 2019 .
  43. ↑ And increases Condor - Lufthansa sells Cook - n-tv.de . www.n-tv.de. Retrieved October 25, 2008.
  44. ↑ Handelsblatt.com June 21, 2007: "Lufthansa completes takeover of Swiss "
  45. ↑ rp-online.de (Rheinische Post): Lufthansa cuts 3500 jobs
  46. ↑ Homepage Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger (KStA) created February 20, 2013 Economy Lufthansa Executive Board: "Cologne is of great importance" , by Peter Berger , accessed on February 21, 2012.
  47. ↑ handelsblatt.de (Handelsblatt): Innovation management: More space for lateral thinkers
  48. ↑ deutsche-startups.de (Deutsche Startups): Lufthansa Innovation Hub is taking shape and shape
  49. ↑ Pilots' strike No. 14 at Lufthansa. Retrieved September 2, 2018 .
  50. ↑ Götz Hamann, Claus Heckling: That is now part of my life . In: The time . No. 52 , 23 December 2015, p. 30 f .
  51. ↑ Key figures. lufthansagroup.com, accessed November 28, 2016 .
  52. ↑ Lufthansa cancels the 60th anniversary celebration ( memento from April 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive ), March 31, 2015.
  53. ↑ Lufthansa buys a large part of Air Berlin . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung . 2017, ISSN  0174-4917 ( sueddeutsche.de [accessed on October 12, 2017]).
  54. ↑ Air Berlin deal: A game that has been agreed upon at the expense of the employees? , WDR Monitor from November 2, 2017.
  55. ↑ With Claire Oelkers : The hard job of a flight attendant , ProSieben - Galileo , Season 2017, episode 326, November 30, 2017 (YouTube)
  56. ↑ Corona: "Probably the future of aviation cannot be guaranteed without state aid". In: spiegel.de. Retrieved March 21, 2020 .
  57. ↑ a b Dinah capstone, Martin U. Müller: "We can not leave," the people yes . In: Der Spiegel . No. 14 , 2020, p. 70-72 ( Online - Mar. 28, 2020 ).
  58. ↑ Wolf Wiedmann-Schmidt, Gerald Traufetter, Michael Sauga, Martin Knobbe, Markus Dettmer: The federal government wants the strong state. In: spiegel.de. Retrieved May 18, 2020 .
  59. ↑ "Controversy over state participation - Germany saves Lufthansa from bankruptcy with nine billion euros". In: Tages-Anzeiger -online. Retrieved May 26, 2020 .
  60. ↑ Lufthansa discontinues pilot training in Bremen. In: austrianwings.info. September 29, 2020, accessed October 2, 2020 .
  61. ↑ Origin meets future. Lufthansa presents new brand design. Lufthansa Group, February 7, 2018, accessed on March 18, 2018 .
  62. ↑ Yellow disappears: The details of the new livery from Lufthansa. aerotelegraph.com, February 1, 2018, accessed March 18, 2018 .
  63. ↑ The new look of Lufthansa. In: Design Diary. Retrieved March 18, 2018 .
  64. ↑ Boeing 747 D-ABYA: The first appearance of the new Lufthansa livery. aerotelegraph.com, February 8, 2018, accessed March 18, 2018 .
  65. ↑ Without yellow on the stern: Lufthansa officially presents the new design . In: Flight Revue . ( Flugrevue.de [accessed on March 18, 2018]).
  66. ↑ Blue is too black: Lufthansa is revising the new livery. aerotelegraph.com, February 26, 2018, accessed March 18, 2018 .
  67. ^ First Lufthansa Cargo MD-11 repainted. airliners.de, accessed on March 18, 2018 .
  68. ↑ And there are more and more ... The first repainted Lufthansa Cargo freighter, D-ALCB with new livery is on its way from Singapore to @airport_FRA // The first repainted Lufthansa Cargo freighter, D-ALCB with new livery is on its way from Singapore to @airport_FRA # ExploreTheNewpic.twitter.com/zJSOnibqhv. In: @lufthansaNews. March 16, 2018, accessed March 18, 2018 .