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Deutsche Lufthansa Ag
Germany, prevented by the Treaty of Versailles from developing military aircraft, poured considerable effort into civilian designs. The German government also gave its blessing to the expansionist plans of Deutsche Luft Hansa (now <anchor>Deutsche Lufthansa Ag</anchor>), formed in 1926. Hugo Junkers’s firm supplied a steady stream of low-wing single- and three-engine planes, clad in corrugated metal, that survived for decades in obscure corners of the world. Meanwhile, German airliners became regular callers throughout central and eastern Europe, with routes that extended as far east as Moscow. Other segments of Lufthansa covered Scandinavia and the Baltic; still others ran to the eastern Mediterranean and down to Baghdad. By the mid-1930s, Germany operated the largest commercial airline network in Europe.
Lufthansa | History, Routes & Destinations | Britannica Money
Lufthansa \| History, Routes & Destinations \| Britannica Money

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# Lufthansa

German airline

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Also known as: Aktiengesellschaft für Luftverkehrsbedarf, Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Luftag

**Written and fact-checked by** The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

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Updated: Sep. 06, 2024

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Lufthansa Airbus A320-200.

Adrian Pingstone

in full: Deutsche Lufthansa AG

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Sep. 3, 2024, 7:01 AM UTC(Jerusalem Post) [Lufthansa to resume flights to Tel Aviv from Thursday](https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-817535)

Aug. 28, 2024, 12:32 PM UTC(Reuters) [Lufthansa squeezed by competition in key transatlantic market, says CFO](https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/lufthansa-squeezed-by-competition-key-transatlantic-market-says-cfo-2024-08-28/)

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**Lufthansa**, German airline organized in [Cologne](/place/Cologne-Germany), W.Ger., on Jan. 6, 1953, jointly by the federal government, the German National Railway, and the state of North Rhine–Westphalia; later it accepted private investors. It was the successor to Deutsche Luft Hansa, or DLH, which was founded in 1926, suspended service at war’s end in 1945, and was formally liquidated in 1951. The new airline, initially called Aktiengesellschaft für Luftverkehrsbedarf, or Luftag, adopted the old name, run together, in 1954; but, whereas the old company had been familiarly called DLH, the new one was popularly called Lufthansa. Headquarters are in Cologne, Ger.

DLH, one of the largest airlines in prewar Europe, had resulted from the merger of Deutscher Aero Lloyd (formed 1924) and Junkers Luftverkehr (formed 1921), which together controlled a large network of lines throughout [Germany](/place/Germany) and central Europe, with extensions to [London](/place/London), Moscow, Stockholm, Helsinki, Budapest, and the [Persian Gulf](/place/Persian-Gulf). By 1931 DLH was serving [Paris](/place/Paris), Barcelona, Rome, and Oslo and accounted for a third of all passenger travel and air transport in Europe. The German-built Junkers Ju 52/3m, used by other airlines as well as by DLH, became the most familiar aircraft in European airports, until it was gradually surpassed by American-made airliners in the late 1930s. In 1934 DLH began the world’s first scheduled transoceanic flights—between Germany and South America—but its other experiments in transatlantic and trans-Asian routes were cut short by the outbreak of [World War II](/event/World-War-II).

Lufthansa, only two months after inaugurating scheduled services within [West Germany](/place/West-Germany) in April 1955, began transatlantic flights to [New York City](/place/New-York-City). In the same year, scheduled service began to Paris, London, Madrid, and [Lisbon](/place/Lisbon), and special flights began to Moscow. In 1956 the first flights were made to Montreal, [Chicago](/place/Chicago), [Rio de Janeiro](/place/Rio-de-Janeiro-Brazil), São Paulo, Buenos Aires, Baghdad, and Tehrān (discontinued in 1981), followed by initial flights to India in 1958 and [Bangkok](/place/Bangkok) in 1959. By the late 20th century the vast network of Lufthansa radiated from [Frankfurt am Main](/place/Frankfurt-am-Main) to such distant cities as Santiago de Chile, [Mexico City](/place/Mexico-City), Los Angeles, Anchorage, Tokyo, [Hong Kong](/place/Hong-Kong), Sydney, and [Johannesburg](/place/Johannesburg-South-Africa), as well as to scores of airports throughout Europe and the [Middle East](/place/Middle-East). Lufthansa acquired [Swiss International Air Lines Ltd.](/money/Swiss-International-Air-Lines) (SWISS) in 2005 and British Midland Airways Limited (bmi) in 2009. In the same year, the airline launched its Italian arm, Lufthansa Italia, which offered connections between northern Italy and major European cities.

This article was most recently revised and updated by [Jeannette L. Nolen](/money/author/Jeannette-L-Nolen/6757).

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