City Airlines
Lufthansa City
IATA ICAO Callsign
VL — —
Founded2022; 2 years ago (2022)
HubsMunich Airport
Secondary hubsFrankfurt Airport
AllianceStar Alliance (affiliate)
Fleet size2
Parent companyLufthansa Group
Websitewww.cityairlines.de

City Airlines, branded as Lufthansa City,[1] is a German regional airline start-up and a subsidiary of Lufthansa. It is expected to begin operations in summer 2024.[2]

History

The airline was founded in 2022 and expects to begin operations in 2024, operating from Munich Airport to various cities around Europe.[3] The airline received its air operator's certificate in June 2023[4] and will operate using the brand name Lufthansa City.[1]

As of October 2023, the airline plans to launch operations in the summer of 2024 with 40 narrowbody aircraft mainly an Airbus A320 fleet transferred from Lufthansa CityLine.[5] Though the fleet will originally consist of Airbus A319 aircraft, Lufthansa is also evaluating the use of Airbus A220s or Embraer jets.[6]

City Airlines plans to have bases in Munich and Frankfurt. It is currently seeking crewmembers to operate its planes.[7]

The new subsidiary has created controversy, as Lufthansa has said that its goal with City Airlines is to fill markets that fellow subsidiary Lufthansa CityLine cannot,[8] though unions say that the airline is trying only to circumvent union agreements that limit the size of aircraft that CityLine can fly. Lufthansa is also encouraging CityLine and former Germanwings employees to apply as well.[7][9]

In January 2024, the first City Airlines Airbus A319-100 received its new livery which is similar to that of parent company Lufthansa with additional City titles. The airline plans to phase in overall four aircraft of this type prior to the delivery of its ordered Airbus A220s.[10]

Fleet

As of January 2024, the City Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft:[11]

City Airlines fleet
Aircraft In service On order Passengers Notes
Airbus A220-300 — 40 TBA Deliveries planned from 2026 with 20 further options.[12][13]
Airbus A319-100 2[11] 2[10] TBA Both transferred from Eurowings and currently stored.[11]
Total 2 42

References

  1. ^ a b aerotelegraph.com - "City Airlines to operate as Lufthansa City" (German) 25 October 2023
  2. ^ "Europe is getting a new airline in 2024". euronews. 2023-10-26. Retrieved 2023-12-26.
  3. ^ Lutzy, Tom (2023-10-17). "Lufthansa to Equip City Airlines with 40 Narrowbody Jets". Airways. Retrieved 2023-10-20.
  4. ^ "Lufthansa's City Airlines secures its AOC". ch-aviation. Retrieved 2023-12-26.
  5. ^ "Lufthansa to equip City Airlines with 40 new narrowbodies". ch-aviation. Retrieved 2023-12-26.
  6. ^ Harper, Lewis. "Lufthansa evaluates A220 and E-Jets as it confirms City Airlines will fly in 2024". Flight Global. Retrieved 2023-10-26.
  7. ^ a b Nowakowski, Adrian (2023-10-25). "Lufthansa's City Airlines to Start Flying in Summer 2024". Airways. Retrieved 2023-10-26.
  8. ^ Machado, João (2023-10-25). "Lufthansa's City Airlines to launch next Summer". Aviacionline.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2023-10-26.
  9. ^ "Germany will get a new airline in 2024: Where it'll fly and why unions aren't happy". Yahoo Finance. 2023-10-26. Retrieved 2023-10-26.
  10. ^ a b aerotelegraph.com 6 January 2024
  11. ^ a b c planspotters.net - City Airlines Fleet Details and History retrieved 6 January 2024
  12. ^ "Lufthansa Group orders additional 40 Airbus A220s". Airbus (Press release). 19 December 2023.
  13. ^ "Lufthansa Group orders 80 new highly efficient short- and medium-haul aircraft and agrees on a further 120 purchasing options". Lufthansa Group (Press release). 19 December 2023.

External links

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Airlines of Germany
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