This article is published in Aviation Daily part of Aviation Week Intelligence Network (AWIN), and is complimentary through Apr 24, 2026. For information on becoming an AWIN Member to access more content like this, click here.
FRANKFURT—Lufthansa Group is making major fleet cutbacks to deal with both the sharp rise in fuel costs and prolonged and bitter disputes with pilot and cabin crew unions.
The company said April 16 that it will accelerate the closure of its regional affiliate CityLine. The carrier, which had been planned to be shut down in 2027, will stop flying on April 18. Lufthansa is also retiring its four remaining Airbus A340-600s and two Boeing 747-400s and has confirmed its intention to allocate nine additional A350-900s to Discover Airlines.
“The package for accelerated implementation of fleet and capacity measures is unavoidable in light of the sharply increased kerosene costs and geopolitical instability,” CFO Till Streichert said. “The goal is to focus our short- and medium-haul platforms more clearly and make them more competitive. The current crisis is now forcing us to implement [closing CityLine] earlier.”
CityLine has been loss-making for some years. Also, an arrangement with pilot union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) that allows the use of larger aircraft expires next year. The airline is to be replaced by newly founded City Airlines, which is currently operating a growing fleet of A320neo family aircraft and will phase in 40 A220-300s over the next years.
CityLine’s fleet consists of 27 aircraft, including 18 Mitsubishi CRJ-900s that are approaching the end of their useful lives, five A319s, and four A321Fs the carrier flies on behalf of Lufthansa Cargo.
Lufthansa had already offered CityLine pilots and cabin crew the option to move to City Airlines at their existing pay conditions more than a year ago. Now, the airline says that it is important to find new employment opportunities for them in the group, without being more specific.
In the upcoming winter timetable, Lufthansa Airlines will operate five fewer narrowbodies. That is the result of tighter network coordination between the group’s airlines—even on short-haul routes—which is intended to better balance flows over the six hubs: Brussels, Frankfurt, Munich, Rome, Vienna and Zurich.
Discover, the new leisure carrier in the group operating short-haul and long-haul routes from the Frankfurt hub, was initially set to receive only four A350s so far. Now, the group confirms that Discover will receive a further nine A350-900s. The aircraft are expected to arrive from 2029 onward.
The decision to close CityLine is a clear message to the VC pilot union that Lufthansa will react to further strikes by reducing future growth opportunities not only in the short-haul but also in the long-haul network.
Lufthansa Group has 21 more A350-900s and 15 -1000s on firm order. Fleet purchases are made at group level. The aircraft are allocated to operating carriers at a later stage.
Related Content
