Lufthansa Airlines

Lufthansa is one of the premier airlines of the world and one of the largest in Europe, in terms of the number of passengers carried by it. The flag carrier of Germany derives its name from Luft (the German word for 'air') and Hansa (the Hanseatic Trade Organization that was active in Northern Europe, during the medieval period). Headquartered in Cologne, the major hub of the airline is located at Frankfurt Airport, in Frankfurt am Main. The airline boasts of having the third largest passenger airline fleet in the world and consists of modern aircrafts. The airline is a founding member of Star Alliance, one of the leading airlines alliances in the world. Check out the article to know more about the profile and history of Lufthansa airlines.

History
Deutsche Aero Lloyd (DAL) and Junkers Luftverkehr merged on January 6, 1926, to form Lufthansa Airlines, in Berlin. The airline was originally named as 'Deutsche Luft Hansa Aktiengesellschaft'. The name Lufthansa was first used in 1933 and since then, the airline is known by the name. Prior to the Second World War, Lufthansa excelled in its business, operated services on the routes to the Far East and covered a number of destinations in North Atlantic and South Atlantic parts, with a fleet of German designed aircrafts including Dornier, Junkers, Heinkel and Focke-Wulf.

The business of Lufthansa was seriously affected due to the outbreak of the Second World War, in 1939. The airline restricted its services to the neutral countries, at that time. During the early years of the wartime, the company, along with the Italian transcontinental carrier - Linee Aeree Transcontinentali Italiane, or LATI - indulged in a stiff competition in South America. However, due to the defeat of Germany in 1945, Lufthansa's services were suspended indefinitely. After the Second World War, when Germany was divided into two parts, Lufthansa remained with the West Germany. Lufthansa was banned from flying into East Germany, until the collapse of the communist regime.

Mergers And Subsidiaries
Over the years, Lufthansa Airlines has expanded its operations, through a handful of mergers and acquiring other airlines. The airline merged 'SWISS', on March 22, 2005. On December 14, 2006, Lufthansa announced its partnership with American low-cost airline 'Jetblue'. Lufthansa and Brussels Airlines made an announcement on August 28, 2008, about their partnership. According to the agreement, it was decided that Lufthansa would 45% stake of Brussels Airlines and would increase its share hold by 2011.

Lufthansa Airlines boasts of having a long list of subsidiaries. Currently, the airline fully owns Air Dolomiti (based in Trieste, Italy), Eurowings (a regional carrier, Germanwings (low-cost airline based in Cologne, Germany) Lufthansa Cargo, Lufthansa CityLine (a regional carrier), Lufthansa Italia, and Swiss International Air Lines, an airline based in Zurich, Switzerland. Lufthansa Airlines is a partial owner of BMI (airline based in UK), Brussels Airlines, JetBlue, Luxair (the flag carrier airline of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg), SunExpress (airline based in Antalya, Turkey) and Jade Cargo International.

Destinations
Along with its subsidiaries, Lufthansa Airlines currently flies to as many as 18 domestic destinations and 185 international destinations across 78 countries in Africa, Americas, Asia and Europe. It covers three South American countries - Brazil, Venezuela and Argentina. The airline and its subsidiaries fly to a number of cities in the United States of America and Canada, while the only destination covered in Mexico is Mexico City. As many as 36 countries are covered in Europe. In Southwest Asia, the airline group flies to 12 countries.

Lufthansa Airlines flies to five countries including Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Singapore in Southeast Asia. In South Asia, Lufthansa Airlines flies to India (to Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Pune). The airline covers three countries - Japan, South Korea and China in East Asia. In Central Asia, it flies to Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. The countries, to which the airline flies in Africa, include Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia, Angola, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, South Africa, Ghana and Nigeria.

Fleet
Lufthansa Airlines' fleet consists of as many as 252 aircrafts, namely Embraer E-190, Boeing 747-400, Boeing 737-500, Boeing 737-300, Airbus A340-600, Airbus A340-300, Airbus A330-300, Airbus A321-200, Airbus A321-100, Airbus A320-200 and Airbus A319-100.