Frankfurt is where Lufthansa City Airlines starts operations.
The largest hub for the Lufthansa Group, Frankfurt Airport, was the official starting point for Lufthansa City Airlines’ flight operations. The opening of the new base in Frankfurt represents another significant step in the growth of the Group’s newest airline, which had a successful summer 2024 start in Munich.
“With our new base and the targeted expansion of our short-haul network, we are simultaneously strengthening our market position and laying the foundation for further growth within the Group,” stated Peter Albers, Chief Operating Officer of Lufthansa City Airlines.
Operated by a contemporary Airbus A320neo registered D-AIJN, the inaugural flight, VL946, departed Frankfurt for Manchester in the late afternoon. In February, Berlin and Valencia will be added to the route network, and in March, a second aircraft will fly to Düsseldorf and Málaga. The network from Frankfurt will progressively grow to encompass more locations starting in the summer of 2026, such as London Heathrow, Stockholm, Bilbao, Hamburg, Helsinki, Ibiza, Marseille, and Bucharest.
The local Frankfurt fleet of Lufthansa City Airlines will increase to seven Airbus A320neo aircraft by the autumn. Thirteen aircraft are currently in service at the airline’s home hub in Munich. It carried almost 2 million passengers to 27 locations on nearly 16,000 flights in 2025.
Lufthansa City Airlines is actively hiring new employees as part of its ongoing growth strategy. In Frankfurt, Lufthansa City Airlines has already hired about 60 staff members, and in the upcoming months, it plans to hire an additional 80 cockpit crew members and 200 cabin crew members. At the moment, the airline has about 450 employees.
Lufthansa City Airlines has been a permanent member of the Star Alliance since September 2025, giving travellers access to a worldwide network and other advantages.
Lufthansa City Airlines is enhancing its position in the Lufthansa Group’s short-haul European operations with the establishment of the Frankfurt hub and ongoing network growth.
