In October 2023, Lufthansa announced plans to launch yet another subsidiary, with the sole purpose of finding a loophole to pay employees less. The airline will be launching passenger operations this week, so I wanted to go over all the details, especially since there’s a major “catch” to flying with this airline…
The basics of new Lufthansa City Airlines subsidiary
Lufthansa City Airlines is Lufthansa’s newest subsidiary, and it’s beginning operations for flights as of June 26, 2024. The airline will be launching operations with a one-year-old Airbus A320neo that has the registration code D-AIJI, and then the second plane will be a 16-year-old Airbus A319 with the registration code D-ABGH.
In the long run, Lufthansa City Airlines plans to operate Airbus A220-300s. Lufthansa Group has ordered up to 60 of these (40 firm orders plus 20 options), and they’re primarily intended for Lufthansa City Airlines. Deliveries are expected to start in 2026. Until then, the airline will operate a mix of Airbus A320neos and Airbus A319s.
As far as routes go, the plan is for Lufthansa City Airlines to operate out of Lufthansa’s biggest hubs, serving feeder routes for Lufthansa, alongside Lufthansa mainline jets, as well as Lufthansa CityLine jets. Service will launch as of June 26, 2024, and the first flights will be out of Munich (MUC):
- Domestic destinations will include Berlin (BER), Bremen (BRE), Cologne (CGN), Dusseldorf (DUS), Hamburg (HAM), and Hannover (HAJ)
- International destinations will include Birmingham (BHX), Bordeaux (BOD), and Manchester (MAN)
Lufthansa City Airlines is using the two letter code “VL.” Initially you can expect that the airline is just replacing existing Lufthansa services, so the airline isn’t actually adding any new service. City Airlines has a separate Air Operator Certificate (AOC), which it got from the German Federal Aviation Authority back in June 2023.
Jens Fehlinger, Managing Director of City Airlines, explains how the intent with this subsidiary is to create sustainable (in other words, lowering paying) jobs in Germany:
“Lufthansa City Airlines is contributing to the future viability of the hubs in Munich and Frankfurt. We are looking forward to new modern Airbus A220 and A320neo deliveries in the coming years. For our guests and employees, we are driving forward our renewal and thus strengthening Lufthansa’s planned growth in long-haul traffic.”
What does Lufthansa City Airlines mean for passengers?
From a passenger experience standpoint, what should you expect when flying Lufthansa City Airlines? Well, in terms of the onboard passenger experience, it should be business as usual when it comes to the cabin, seats, food, drinks, etc. The only difference onboard is that the plane will have a slightly modified livery, and you’ll be served by crews who specifically work for this subsidiary.
Now, when off the plane, there is a major difference with Lufthansa City Airlines. The airline is fully participating in the Lufthansa Miles & More program, so you can earn and redeem miles, and take advantage of elite perks.
However, Lufthansa City Airlines isn’t as of now a partner with Star Alliance in any way, given that the airline has its own “code.” This is super frustrating — it means you can’t earn and redeem Star Alliance miles for Lufthansa City Airlines flights, and Star Alliance Gold elite perks (like lounge access, priority boarding, etc.) also wouldn’t apply.
The implementation here is extremely frustrating. Lufthansa is replacing mainline flights with Lufthansa City Airlines flights, and in the process is screwing over anyone who may be a non-Miles & More Star Alliance flyer. I hope Lufthansa changes its policy on this, because it’s going to lead to confusion and disappointment.
Why does Lufthansa need another subsidiary?!
It’s almost comical just how many subsidiaries Lufthansa has. Before City Airlines, we had Eurowings, Discover Airlines, CityLine, and I’m sure I’m missing some. And that doesn’t even consider all the subsidiaries in the past, plus all the other Lufthansa Group partner subsidiaries.
So, why does Lufthansa need yet another subsidiary? Well, currently there’s the Lufthansa CityLine subsidiary, which primarily operates Canadair and Embraer regional jets, though also operates some Airbus A319s and A320s (and in the past even operated A340s).
The catch is that Lufthansa has a scope clause with its mainline pilots regarding this subsidiary, and they’re limited to only flying planes up to a certain size. There’s an exemption currently in place that allows them to fly a small number of A319s and A320s, but that exemption will be ending in the next couple of years, which is why Lufthansa is setting up yet another subsidiary.
So while Lufthansa can’t have CityLine operate larger aircraft in the long run, the company can apparently start a brand new subsidiary, and have those planes be bigger, as that airline isn’t governed by Lufthansa’s current bargaining agreement with pilots. So expect crews at Lufthansa City Airlines to get comparable pay to Lufthansa CityLine, only on bigger jets…
It’s just kind of amazing how bad faith the negotiations are with these contracts and subsidiaries, eh? I imagine that in the next round of negotiations with mainline staff, the expansion of City Airlines will also be addressed.
From a passenger standpoint, one major difference is that CityLine is treated the same as any Lufthansa flight in terms of earning and redeeming miles and elite perks, while that won’t be the case with City Airlines.
Bottom line
Lufthansa is launching another subsidiary this week, named City Airlines. The airline will operate Airbus A320neos and A319s out of Frankfurt and Munich, with feeder services similar to those currently operated by Lufthansa CityLine, as well as Lufthansa mainline jets. Eventually, the airline will operate A220s, and will become quite large.
The intent is to be able to hire employees with a cheaper labor contract, without violating the agreement with Lufthansa’s mainline pilots. Unfortunately for passengers, this airline also doesn’t come with any Star Alliance recognition… at least as of now.
What do you make of Lufthansa City Airlines?
Membership is free and takes no more information than commenting as a guest. Earn status points for good contributions, and see fewer ads as your status grows.