One of the worlds leading airlines can trace it's history way back to the early twenties! It's central European position, great fares and excellent service and safety record make Lufthansa a popular and recommended choice.
Lufthansa Reservations
UK 0871 945 9747 (24 hours)
USA 1-800-645-3880 (24 hours)
Germany +49 (0) 1805 - 805 - 805 (24 hours)
As an airline, it's only as good as the inflight service it provides and the aircraft it flies. Onboard the service is friendly, efficient and professional and the aircraft in the fleet are mostly modern and comfortable. Of particular note are the new flagships of the fleet, the super jumbo Airbus A380.
Our rating 4 stars.
The Airbus A380 – Lufthansa’s new flagship
The A380 is the largest and heaviest passenger aircraft in the world. It is 73 meters long, 24 meters high, and has a takeoff weight of up to 560 tons. The Lufthansa A380 seats 526 passengers, and its four Rolls-Royce engines each generate 70000lbs of thrust. That’s the rough equivalent of what 3500 cars could produce. Ecologically speaking, too, the A380 raises the bar. The megaliner is quieter than other planes, uses less fuel and can even “think” for itself and automatically apply the brakes after landing on the runway. Lufthansa has ordered 15 A380s, which will be delivered to the airline one after the next.
Bestselling Boeing: Lufthansa’s trusty workhorse
The twin-engined Boeing 737-300 joined the Lufthansa fleet in 1986, two years after its maiden flight. It has been the airline’s sweet-tempered, dependable and tireless workhorse ever since. Since they can carry up to 140 passengers a distance of 2,000 kilometers, they are the ideal choice for domestic German and European routes. The various models of the Boeing 737 family have been a familiar sight at airports around the globe for over four decades. Unsurprisingly, the Boeing 737 is the world’s bestselling passenger jet.
Bombardier CRJ900 joins the Lufthansa fleet
The Bombardier CRJ900 soars up to 12,500 meters on routine flights. It goes higher than any other jet in the Lufthansa fleet except for the Boeing 747. Flying at this altitude helps to save fuel, and a tilt of only one degree means the CRJ900 is almost horizontal in the air. The two-engined aircraft, which has 84 seats and a flight range of around 2,100 kilometers, will operate on regional routes for Lufthansa CityLine.
Lufthansa can look back on an eventful history. It has included many glorious moments but the course of events has not always been smooth. History is always a reflection of people and their times. The challenges facing air transport have become increasingly complex, yet Lufthansa has always found the strength to learn and renew itself. That ability has gained the company its lead position in the international airline business.
The Twenties, Lufthansa's pioneering era: from adventure to routine operations
Fly in open aircraft, in the dead of winter? Could such a thing really be possible? It just had to work. And the time was now: the beginning of the 1920s, right after the war. Politicians and journalists were the first to crouch on uncomfortable planks, “air-cooled” and surrounded by mail bags and parcels. The were real pioneers. But it wouldn’t be long until they’d be sitting in full-fledged passenger aircraft, equipped with heated cabins.
By now a number of a small aviation companies had sprung up in Germany. Their aircraft made wobbly trips, back and forth, from one city to another – preferably along rail lines and during the day. Pilots didn’t have radio contact with the ground yet. Only two airlines survived the all-out competitive battle: Deutscher Aero Llyod and Junkers Luftverkehr. For the subsidies-paying German state, however, this was still one too many. After the two joined forces to found “Deutsche Luft Hansa AG” on January 6, 1926, the flight path started to point upward.
The Thirties - going further, faster and more comfortably
Experienced pilots, with thousands of flight kilometers under their belts, found themselves back at school: They squeezed into a tiny cockpit with blacked-out windows blocking any view to the outside. There pilots learned to fly by instruments alone, to fly under adverse weather conditions and at zero visibility. This was a giant step forward for aviation, passengers and mail. Airlines were better able to adhere to their timetables, even in fall and winter.
Flying lost its seasonal character. What’s more: Larger aircraft could now fly longer routes – and therein lay the future, not in the “hop-and-skip-routes” of the early years, which merely cost subsidy money. For Lufthansa, South America and the Far East now drew within reach.
Flying lost its seasonal character. What’s more: Larger aircraft could now fly longer routes – and therein lay the future, not in the “hop-and-skip-routes” of the early years, which merely cost subsidy money. For Lufthansa, South America and the Far East now drew within reach.
The war years, the forties & the fight for survival
Europe was in the grips of war – one that was soon to escalate into a world war. The Reich’s government obligated Lufthansa by law to provide services, transport flights and technical operations. All Lufthansa documents, including the annual report, were stamped “Secret!” Despite all the difficulties, it was business as usual.
Connections to neutral countries were particularly of great importance. That’s were businessmen, diplomats and agents continued to fly: that’s were post and information were exchanged. During the war years, timetables were always subject to changes at short notice. At the beginning of the decade, even Tempelhof, the airline’s home airport, had to be evacuated for a time. And finally – in 1945 – came the “over and out” for Germany and for Lufthansa.
Connections to neutral countries were particularly of great importance. That’s were businessmen, diplomats and agents continued to fly: that’s were post and information were exchanged. During the war years, timetables were always subject to changes at short notice. At the beginning of the decade, even Tempelhof, the airline’s home airport, had to be evacuated for a time. And finally – in 1945 – came the “over and out” for Germany and for Lufthansa.
The fifties and a new beginning - starting over with fresh spirit
Courage and drive were behind Luft- hansa’s fresh start. But these were troubled and insecure times, the years of the Cold War. Almost at the same time, two companies named Deutsche Lufthansa took to the skies – one on each side of the Iron Curtain.American and British pilots sat beside their German colleagues in the cockpits of Lufthansa aircraft in the West, while Russian and German pilots shared the controls in the East.
This setup was not meant to last. Yet Allied regulations in the former capital of the Reich did not allow the young, up-and-coming Federal Republic to fly through the air corridors to West Berlin, to Tempelhof and Tegel Airports. And as things turned out, this restriction was to remain in place for decades to come. Consequently, the new Lufthansa developed in new centers. First in Hamburg and Cologne, and then in Frankfurt.
Jets replace propellers during the sixties.
The principle is deceptively simple: Air is sucked into the engine, compressed and burned with kerosene; the backward thrust of the hot exhaust gases propels the aircraft forward.
These new jet aircraft, with their higher speeds, increased capacities and improved ranges, revolutionized world air transport as never before.
Like night and day. And passengers were not the only ones to feel the difference.
Starting in 1960, the fourengined Boeing B707s flew on Lufthansa’s long-haul routes; The airline restructured its entire route network. Fares dropped as capacities rose sharply, especially on the North Atlantic routes. These were challenging times for the young company, the more so as the world was shaken by political turmoil in the early 1960s, and even found itself briefly on the brink of a new war.
These new jet aircraft, with their higher speeds, increased capacities and improved ranges, revolutionized world air transport as never before.
Like night and day. And passengers were not the only ones to feel the difference.
Starting in 1960, the fourengined Boeing B707s flew on Lufthansa’s long-haul routes; The airline restructured its entire route network. Fares dropped as capacities rose sharply, especially on the North Atlantic routes. These were challenging times for the young company, the more so as the world was shaken by political turmoil in the early 1960s, and even found itself briefly on the brink of a new war.
The seventies - flying in wide-body dimensions
Space. Breadth. Room to move. Everything was new and different aboard the wide-body jets, the “Jumbos,” which arrived at Lufthansa just in time to kick off the new decade.
Instead of just the one down the middle, two aisles now led along a much wider cabin, dispelling all notions of confinement – and making service and communication much easier on long flights. A liberating feeling, a new era in aviation. But the joy wasn’t to remain unadulterated for very long. Prices for crude oil, raw material for the kerosene so indispensable to flying, exploded. First in 1973 and then again in 1979 – two oil crises.
This resulted in tur- bulences in the world economy, striking international civil aviation with conse- quences that were tough to deal with. Lufthansa’s engineers, as well as aircraft and engine manufacturers, applied their combined expertise to reduce fuel con- sumption – and were successful in their quest. A new awareness, a greater understanding in using our resources began to shape the collective thinking process.
Instead of just the one down the middle, two aisles now led along a much wider cabin, dispelling all notions of confinement – and making service and communication much easier on long flights. A liberating feeling, a new era in aviation. But the joy wasn’t to remain unadulterated for very long. Prices for crude oil, raw material for the kerosene so indispensable to flying, exploded. First in 1973 and then again in 1979 – two oil crises.
This resulted in tur- bulences in the world economy, striking international civil aviation with conse- quences that were tough to deal with. Lufthansa’s engineers, as well as aircraft and engine manufacturers, applied their combined expertise to reduce fuel con- sumption – and were successful in their quest. A new awareness, a greater understanding in using our resources began to shape the collective thinking process.
Eighties - competing for customers
The world was now on our doorstep, thanks to more nonstop connections and ever-denser route networks.
At the same time, air space had become more crowded, resulting in more time spent flying in holding patterns. The aircraft had evolved into a means of mass transport. Lufthansa was increasingly transforming itself into a competitive corporation with modern organizational structures: Its watchwords were now market orientation, a newly-designed corporate identity, more efficient struc- tures, responsibility in environmental issues, employee communications. And at the end of the decade, the real- ization of a long-held dream dawned on the horizon: a reunited Germany and Lufthansa’s return to its home town – to Berlin.
At the same time, air space had become more crowded, resulting in more time spent flying in holding patterns. The aircraft had evolved into a means of mass transport. Lufthansa was increasingly transforming itself into a competitive corporation with modern organizational structures: Its watchwords were now market orientation, a newly-designed corporate identity, more efficient struc- tures, responsibility in environmental issues, employee communications. And at the end of the decade, the real- ization of a long-held dream dawned on the horizon: a reunited Germany and Lufthansa’s return to its home town – to Berlin.
Onwards to the nineties - Germany's reunification and Lufthansa's return to Berlin: The new decade got off to a most promising start. But then came a major crisis in the early 1990s, a dramatic phase that threatened the airline's very survival. Lufthansa sought alliances and cooperations, and eventually found its way with other airlines into the "Star Alliance," which was rapidly to become the industry leader. A "new," entirely restructured Lufthansa, fully privatized in 1997, now soared toward success. Lufthansa was fully prepared to take off for the new millennium.
