Deutsche Lufthansa AG (), trading as the Lufthansa Group, is a German aviation group. Its major and founding subsidiary airline Lufthansa German Airlines, branded as Lufthansa, is the flag carrier of Germany. It ranks second in Europe by passengers carried, as well as largest in Europe and fourth largest in the world by revenue.
Besides operating flights under its own brand Lufthansa Airlines, the Lufthansa Group also owns several other airlines, including Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Discover Airlines, Eurowings, ITA Airways and Swiss International Air Lines. The group also owns several aviation-related companies, including Global Load Control, Lufthansa Consulting, Lufthansa Flight Training, Lufthansa Systems and Lufthansa Technik.
The company was founded as Aktiengesellschaft für Luftverkehrsbedarf (often shortened to Luftag) on 6 January 1953 by staff of the former Deutsche Luft Hansa, Germany's national airline founded in 1926. While Deutsche Luft Hansa played a significant role in the development of commercial aviation in Germany, it was liquidated in 1951 due to its association with the Nazi regime during World War II. Luftag adopted the branding of the former flag carrier by acquiring the Luft Hansa name and logo in 1954.
Lufthansa's corporate headquarters are in Cologne.
History
1950s: Post-war (re-)formation
Lufthansa traces its history to 1926 when Deutsche Luft Hansa was formed in
Berlin by the merger of Deutscher Aero Lloyd, the world's sixth-oldest airline, and Junkers Luftverkehr.
Deutsche Luft Hansa was Germany's
flag carrier until the outbreak of war when it came under the command of the
Luftwaffe. During the war, the airline was focused mainly on aircraft maintenance and repair in which forced labour was employed on the site of Berlin Tempelhof Airport. Following the surrender of Germany and the ensuing Allied occupation of Germany, all aircraft in the country were seized and Deutsche Luft Hansa was dissolved. The remaining assets were liquidated on 1 January 1951.
In an effort to create a new national airline, a company called Aktiengesellschaft für Luftverkehrsbedarf ( Luftag)
West Germany had not yet been granted full sovereignty over its airspace, so it was not known when the new airline could become operational. Nevertheless, in 1953, Luftag placed orders for four Convair CV-340 and four Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellations aircraft and set up a maintenance base at Hamburg Airport.
On 1 April 1955, Lufthansa won approval to commence operation of scheduled domestic flights.
However, the political realities of the time presented challenges to the airline. The United States, Soviet Union, Britain and France did not allow Lufthansa to fly to any part of the divided Berlin during the division of Germany.[ Lufthansa continues to decline the opportunity for a third German hub at Berlin] Instead, Lufthansa turned Frankfurt Airport into its primary hub in 1958.
The airline also embarked on a marketing campaign to encourage travelers to consider visiting West Germany as it rebuilt in the wake of World War II and to use its hub to connect to other locations across Europe. By 1963, the airline, initially limited in its public relations efforts, had become a major purveyor of West Germany's image abroad.
During this time, East Germany attempted to establish its own "Lufthansa" airline in 1955, but legal challenges from the West German carrier led to its abandonment. East Germany subsequently launched Interflug as its national carrier in 1963.
1960s: Introduction of jetliners
Lufthansa embraced the
jet age in 1958 by ordering four Boeing 707 aircraft. This marked a significant leap forward, allowing them to launch jet flights between Frankfurt and New York City in March 1960. To further bolster their jet fleet, Boeing 720B aircraft (a 707 derivative for shorter flights from shorter runways) were later acquired.
Lufthansa's network continued to expand throughout the early 1960s. In February 1961, their Far East routes extended beyond Bangkok to include Hong Kong and Tokyo.
Innovation continued with the introduction of the Boeing 727 in 1964.
1970s–1980s: The wide-body era
-600 on domestic and European routes until 2009. The image shows an aircraft of that type approaching Frankfurt Airport in 2003.]]The
wide-body era for Lufthansa started with a Boeing 747 flight on 26 April 1970. It was followed by the introduction of the DC-10-30 on 14 January 1974, and the first Airbus A300 in 1976. In 1979, Lufthansa and
Swissair became launch customers for the Airbus A310 with an order for twenty-five aircraft.
The company's fleet modernization programme for the 1990s began on 29 June 1985, with an order for fifteen Airbus A320s and seven Airbus A300-600s. Ten Boeing 737-300s were ordered a few days later. All were delivered between 1987 and 1992. Lufthansa also bought Airbus A321, Airbus A340, and Boeing 747-400 aircraft.
In 1987, Lufthansa, together with Air France, Iberia, and Scandinavian Airlines, founded Amadeus, an IT company (also known as a GDS) that would enable travel agencies to sell the founders and other airlines' products from a single system.
Lufthansa adopted a new corporate identity in 1988. The fleet was given a new livery, while cabins, city offices, and airport lounges were redesigned.
1990s–2000s: Further expansion
Following German reunification on 3 October 1990, Lufthansa swiftly reintegrated Berlin into its network, marking the city's return as a key destination within 25 days.
The mid-1990s saw a period of strategic restructuring for Lufthansa. This involved the establishment of independent operating companies within the Lufthansa Group, specializing in areas like maintenance (Lufthansa Technik), cargo (Lufthansa Cargo), and information technology (Lufthansa Systems). Over time, the group further expanded through the addition of LSG Sky Chefs (catering), Condor (leisure travel), and Lufthansa CityLine (regional operations).
Lufthansa joined Air Canada, Scandinavian Airlines, Thai Airways International, and United Airlines to form Star Alliance on 18 May 1997, the world's first multilateral airline alliance.
Lufthansa actively addressed its historical legacy during this period. In 1999, the airline participated in a German initiative aimed at resolving wartime misdeeds, acknowledging the use of forced labor by its predecessor, Deutsche Luft Hansa. As part of the initiative, Lufthansa also reportedly paid tens of millions German marks.
The early 2000s witnessed Lufthansa demonstrate remarkable resilience in the face of industry challenges. Despite significant industry losses following the 11 September attacks, the airline maintained profitability and strategically avoided workforce reductions.
Lufthansa further solidified its position as a major European airline group through strategic acquisitions. The acquisitions of Swiss International Air Lines in 2005, Brussels Airlines (staged between 2009 and 2017),
At the end of the 2000s, Lufthansa made a large commitment to very large aircraft, introducing the first of 14 Airbus A380 in 2010 and becoming the launch customer for the Boeing 747-8I in 2012, eventually purchasing 19 of the type.
2010s: Losses and strikes
In 2011 Lufthansa planned significant growth at Berlin Brandenburg Airport for the originally planned opening in 2012 with many new connections from Berlin.
After a loss of 298 million euros in the first quarter of 2010 and another 13 million loss in the year 2011 due to the economic recession and restructuring costs, Deutsche Lufthansa AG cut 3,500 administrative positions or around 20 percent of the clerical total of 16,800 in 2012.
In September 2013, Lufthansa Group announced its biggest order, for 59 wide-body aircraft valued more than 14 billion euros at list prices. Earlier in the same year, Lufthansa placed an order for 100 next-generation narrow-body aircraft.
The group has had a long-standing dispute with the Vereinigung Cockpit union, which has advocated for a system in which pilots can retire at the age of 55, and 60% of their pay be retained. Lufthansa pilots were joined by pilots from the group's budget carrier Germanwings to stage a nationwide strike in support of their demands in April 2014 which lasted three days. The pilots staged a six-hour strike at the end of the summer holidays in September 2014, which caused the cancellation of 200 Lufthansa flights and 100 Germanwings flights.
During the course of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, part of the fleet was branded "Fanhansa".
In November 2014, Lufthansa signed an outsourcing deal worth $1.25 billion with IBM that will see the US company take over the airline's IT infrastructure services division and staff.
Carsten Spohr, Lufthansa's CEO, called the March 2015 Germanwings Flight 9525 crash ,"the darkest day for Lufthansa in its 60-year history", when co-pilot Andreas Lubitz intentionally flew an aircraft into a mountain, killing himself, 144 passengers and 5 crew members.
In June 2015, Lufthansa announced plans to close its small long-haul base at Düsseldorf Airport for economic reasons by October 2015. At the time, the base consisted of two Airbus A340-300s rotating between Newark and Chicago. As a result, service to Chicago from Düsseldorf was first made seasonal, suspended for the winter 2015 season, and then canceled altogether.
On 22 March 2016, Lufthansa ended Boeing 737-500 operations.
On 1 September 2015, Lufthansa implemented a 16 euro surcharge on Global Distribution System bookings. The surcharge is payable unless tickets are purchased from the airline's website, or its airport service centres and ticket counters. Amadeus said the new model would make "comparison and transparency more difficult because travellers will now be forced to go to multiple channels to search for the best fares."
In October 2017, Lufthansa took over 81 aircraft from the insolvent Air Berlin. The total purchase price for the shares acquired by Lufthansa from the insolvency estate of Air Berlin amounted to around 210 million euros.
On 4 December 2017, Lufthansa became the first European airline to receive the Skytrax 5-star certification.
In March 2018, Lufthansa and other airlines like British Airways and American Airlines accepted a request from Beijing to list Taiwan as part of China.
In March 2019, Lufthansa ordered 20 Boeing 787-9 and an additional 20 Airbus A350-900 for its own and the group's fleet replacement and expansion. Also, the airline announced it would sell six A380 aircraft back to Airbus, beginning in 2022.
Pro-migration activists from Germany have criticised Lufthansa for performing deportation flights on behalf of the German government.
2020s: COVID-19 pandemic and recovery
on 21 March 2020 due to the cancellation of 95 percent of all flights of the airline on 19 March 2020]]On 19 March 2020, Lufthansa cancelled 95 percent of all flights due to a travel ban because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Consequently, the airline incurred losses of 1 million euros per hour by April 2020. While Lufthansa reduced its costs throughout 2020, continuing health risks and travel restrictions still caused hourly losses of approximately 500,000 euros on average at the beginning of 2021.
On 14 May, Lufthansa Group announced that it planned to operate 1,800 weekly flights by the end of June.
On 25 June, Deutsche Lufthansa AG shareholders accepted a bailout, consisting of capital measures and the participation of the Economic Stabilisation Fund (WSF) of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.
In January 2021, Lufthansa CEO Spohr announced that the entire currently stored Airbus A340-600 fleet will be retired with immediate effect and not return to service anymore.
In January 2022, Lufthansa admitted it had operated over 18,000 empty flights to keep airport slots during the pandemic.
In March 2022, Lufthansa originally confirmed that its entire Airbus A380 fleet would be retired, having been in storage since early 2020.[ aerotelegraph.com 30 June 2022]
In May 2022, Skytrax demoted Lufthansa from its aforementioned 5-star rating which it held since 2017 as the first European carrier to do so, to an overall 4-star rating.
In 2023, the airline was affected by an IT glitch, leaving thousands of passengers stranded around the world. According to the German air traffic control agency, the airline's flights were redirected from Frankfurt to other airports due to an IT glitch. The issue was reportedly caused after construction work cut through fiber optic cables in the city.
In May 2023, Lufthansa Group announced an agreement with the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) to acquire a 41 per cent stake in ITA Airways. Part of the agreement allows Lufthansa to acquire the remaining shares at a later date. In May 2024, Lufthansa rolled out a new safety video in line with the Allegris launch.
In 2025, some of Lufthansa's Boeing 747 would be refitted with its Business Class seats, being splitted into half, of which the first half included new luxurious seats, while the other half would still have the original first class seats.
Corporate affairs
Ownership
Lufthansa was a state-owned enterprise until 1994.
Deutsche Lufthansa AG shares have been publicly traded on all German stock exchanges since 1966. In addition to floor trading, it is also traded electronically using the Xetra system. It is a
DAX index share and is listed in the Frankfurt Stock Exchange's
Prime Standard.
At the end of 2019, the shareholders' register showed that German investors held 67.3% of the shares (previous year: 72.1%). The second-largest group, with 10.4%, was shareholders from Luxembourg. Investors from the US accounted for 8.1%, followed by Ireland and the United Kingdom, each with 3.6%. This ensures compliance with the provisions of the German Aviation Compliance Documentation Act (LuftNaSiG). As of the reporting date, 58% of the shares were held by institutional investors (previous year: 53%), and 42% were held by private individuals (previous year: 47%). Lansdowne Partners International Ltd. and BlackRock, Inc. were the largest shareholders in the Lufthansa Group at year-end, with 4.9% and 3.1% respectively. All the transactions requiring disclosure and published during the financial year 2019, as well as the quarterly updates on the shareholder structure, are available online. During the 2020 COVID crisis Heinz Hermann Thiele increased his stake to more than 12%; he died a few months later. The
free float for Lufthansa shares was 67% in 2020, as per the definition of the Deutsche Börse.
German government bail-out
The German government offered a €9 billion bailout to support the airline through COVID-19 induced economic issues. With this bailout, the government's stake in the airline increased to 20%, and also granted it board seats, while diluting existing shareholder stakes. The shareholders of the company approved the bailout on Thursday, 26 June, offering the airline a fresh lease of life.
Business trends
Key business and operating results of the
Lufthansa Group for recent years are shown below (as at year ending 31 December):
|
| 2009 | 22.2 | −0.04 | 117 | 77.3 | 77.9 | 60.6 | 722 | |
| 2010 | 27.3 | 1.1 | 117 | 91.2 | 79.3 | 68.0 | 710 | |
| 2011 | 28.7 | −0.01 | 116 | 100 | 77.6 | 66.8 | 636 | |
| 2012 | 30.1 | 0.99 | 117 | 103 | 78.8 | 66.9 | 627 | |
| 2013 | 30.0 | 0.31 | 118 | 104 | 79.8 | 69.1 | 622 | |
| 2014 | 30.0 | 0.05 | 118 | 106 | 80.1 | 69.9 | 615 | |
| 2015 | 32.0 | 1.6 | 120 | 107 | 80.4 | 66.3 | 602 | |
| 2016 | 31.6 | 1.7 | 124 | 109 | 79.1 | 66.6 | 617 | |
| 2017 | 35.5 | 2.3 | 129 | 130 | 80.9 | 69.3 | 728 | |
| 2018 | 35.5 | 2.1 | 135 | 141 | 81.5 | 66.6 | 763 | |
| 2019 | 36.4 | 1.2 | 138 | 145 | 82.6 | 61.4 | 763 | |
| 2020 | 13.5 | −6.7 | 110 | 36.4 | 63.2 | 69.6 | 757 | |
| 2021 | 16.8 | −2.1 | 105 | 46.9 | 61.6 | 71.4 | 713 | |
| 2022 | 32.7 | 0.79 | 109 | 101 | 79.8 | 60.3 | 710 | |
| 2023 | 35.4 | 1.6 | 96.6 | 122 | 82.9 | 56.4 | 721 | |
| 2024 | 37.5 | 1.3 | 101 | 131 | 83.1 | 58.2 | 735 | |
| |
The key trends for the
Lufthansa Airlines are (as at year ending 31 December):
|
| 2016 | 15.4 | 1.6 | 34,126 | 62.4 | 79.1 | 350 | |
| 2017 | 16.4 | 2.1 | 33,779 | 65.8 | 81.6 | 357 | |
| 2018 | 15.8 | 1.7 | 34,754 | 69.8 | 81.3 | 351 | |
| 2019 | 16.6 | 1.1 | 39,582 | 72.4 | 82.5 | 364 | |
| 2020 | 4.1 | −4.7 | 37,741 | 17.9 | 62.1 | 421 | |
| 2021 | 5.0 | −2.5 | 35,738 | 23.5 | 60.3 | 389 | |
| 2022 | 13.1 | −0.43 | 34,408 | 51.7 | 79.9 | 386 | |
| 2023 | 16.1 | 0.86 | 36,707 | 60.2 | 82.4 | 381 | |
| 2024 | 16.5 | −0.11 | 39,323 | 64.4 | 82.8 | 387 | |
| |
Headquarters
Lufthansa's corporate headquarters are in Cologne. In 1971, Lawrence Fellows of
The New York Times described the then-new headquarters building that Lufthansa occupied in Cologne as "gleaming".
In 1986, left-wing terrorists bombed the building.
No one was injured.
In 2006, builders laid the first stone of the new Lufthansa headquarters in Deutz, Cologne. By the end of 2007, Lufthansa planned to move 800 employees, including the company's finance department, to the new building.
[" Grundsteinlegung für Lufthansa Hauptverwaltung in Köln ." KFZ.net. Retrieved on 12 February 2010. "Die Lufthansa hat mit einer Grundsteinlegung in Köln-Deutz den Beginn der Arbeiten für ihre neue Kölner Konzernzentrale gefeiert. Ende 2007 werden rund 800 Kölner Lufthanseaten, vor allem aus dem Konzernressort Finanzen, das Hochhaus am Rhein verlassen und in den nur wenige hundert Meter entfernten Neubau umziehen, erklärte das Unternehmen."] However, in early 2013, Lufthansa revealed plans to relocate its head office from Cologne to Frankfurt by 2017.
Several Lufthansa departments are not at the headquarters; instead, they are in the Lufthansa Aviation Center at Frankfurt Airport. These departments include Corporate Communications and Investor Relations.
Employment relations
Relations between Lufthansa and their pilots have been very tense in the past years, with many strikes occurring, causing many flights to be cancelled, as well as major losses to the company.
A major dispute between Lufthansa and the pilot's union has been settled after nearly five years and overall 14 strikes in December 2017.
Without taking into account the €9 billion bailout from the German government, Lufthansa cut 31,000 jobs in the COVID-19 years.
During the 2022 collective bargaining, verdi said that Lufthansa's wage offer meant real wage losses for employees and called on around 20,000 ground workers in Germany to go on warning strikes.
Airline subsidiaries
In addition to its main passenger operation, Lufthansa has several airline subsidiaries, including:
Network Airlines
-
Lufthansa Airlines
-
Austrian Airlines – the flag carrier of Austria based at Vienna International Airport
-
Swiss International Air Lines – the flag carrier of Switzerland based at Zurich Airport
-
Brussels Airlines – the flag carrier of Belgium based at Brussels Airport
-
ITA Airways – the flag carrier of Italy based at Rome Fiumicino Airport, successor of Alitalia, owned by Italian government (59%) and Lufthansa Group (41%), with options for full ownership in the future
-
airBaltic – the flag carrier of Latvia based at Riga International Airport, owned by Government of Latvia (87.97%) and Lufthansa Group (10%)
Feeder Airlines
-
Lufthansa CityLine – German regional airline headquartered in Munich operating feeders to the Lufthansa Airlines mainline operation.
-
Lufthansa City Airlines – Regional airline based in Munich started operations branded as Lufthansa City in June 2024, operating feeders to the Lufthansa Airlines mainline operation.
-
Air Dolomiti – Italian regional airline headquartered in Villafranca di Verona and based in Munich Airport and Frankfurt, operating feeders to the Lufthansa Airlines mainline operation.
Low-cost Airlines
-
Eurowings – German low-cost point to point airline headquartered in Düsseldorf.
-
Eurowings Europe – low-cost airline registered in Malta, subsidiary of Eurowings Group.
Leisure Airlines
-
Discover Airlines — German long- and medium-haul leisure airline, doing business as EW Discover GmbH, originally known as Eurowings Discover.
-
Edelweiss Air – Swiss leisure airline, subsidiary of Swiss International Air Lines.
Cargo Airlines
Joint ventures
Former
-
British Midland International (2009–2011, stake owned since 1999) – British airline subsidiary sold to International Airlines Group and merged into British Airways in 2012
-
Condor Flugdienst (1959–2004, stakes owned from 1955 until 2006) – former leisure subsidiary, shares gradually acquired by Thomas Cook AG, later owned by Thomas Cook Group
-
German Cargo (1977–1993) – cargo subsidiary, reorganized into the current Lufthansa Cargo
-
German Airways – German low-cost regional airline integrated into Eurowings in October 2017, sold to Zeitfracht in 2019
-
Lufthansa Italia (2009–2011) – Italian airline subsidiary established, sharing IATA, ICAO, and callsigns with the main Lufthansa
-
SunExpress Deutschland (2011–2020) – German subsidiary of SunExpress
[ aerotelegraph.com (German) 23 June 2020]
-
Team Lufthansa (1996–2004) – An alliance of regional airlines from four countries (Germany, Denmark, Austria, and France), which flew niche routes on behalf of Lufthansa. It was replaced by Lufthansa Regional in 2004
-
Lufthansa AirPlus Servicekarten GMBH, (AirPlus International) travel payment company via UATP and Mastercard. Sold to SEB Group in 2024.
Other subsidiaries
In addition to the airlines mentioned above, Lufthansa maintains further aviation affiliated subsidiaries:
-
Global Load Control, a world leader in remote weight and balance services.
-
Lufthansa Consulting, an international aviation consultancy for airlines, airports, and related industries.
-
Lufthansa Flight Training, a provider of flight crew training services to various airlines and the main training arm for the airline's pilots.
-
Lufthansa Systems, the largest European aviation IT provider.
-
Lufthansa Technik, aircraft maintenance providers.
-
Lufthansa City Center International, a network of independent travel agents who are Lufthansa franchisees
Branding
The Lufthansa logo, an encircled stylised crane in flight, was first created in 1918 by Otto Firle. It was part of the livery of the first German airline, Deutsche Luft-Reederei (abbreviated DLR), which began air service on 5 February 1919. In 1926, Deutsche Luft Hansa adopted this symbol, and in 1954, Lufthansa expressed continuity by adopting it and later in 1963 – a variant thereof as redesigned by
Robert Lisovskyi.
The original creator of the name Lufthansa is believed to be F.A. Fischer von Puturzyn. In 1925, he published a book entitled "Luft-Hansa" which examined the options open to aviation policymakers at the time. Luft Hansa was the name given to the new airline, which resulted from the merger of Junkers' airline (Luftverkehr AG) and Deutscher Aero Lloyd.
After World War II, the company kept blue and yellow as its main colours and the crane logo. Since the beginning of the 1960s, Helvetica was used for the company name in the livery. The 1970s retro livery featured the top half of the fuselage painted in all-white on top and the lower fuselage (bottom half, including the engines) was gray/silver aluminium, below a blue cheatline window band and a black painted nose. The crane logo was painted blue on the engines, on the bottom half of the fuselage just below the cockpit windows, and a yellow circle inside a blue band on the tail.
German designer Otl Aicher created a comprehensive corporate design for the airline in 1967. The crane logo was now always displayed in a circle which, on the livery, was yellow on an otherwise blue tailfin. Helvetica was used as the main typeface for both the livery and publications. The blue band and general paint scheme of the aircraft were retained from the previous livery.
Aicher's concept was retained in the 1988 design. The window band was removed, and the fuselage was painted in grey.
In 2018, Lufthansa changed their livery. The encircled crane was retained, and the background changed from yellow to dark blue. The vertical stabilizer and the rear fuselage were painted in dark blue, and the tail cone remained white. The main fuselage was painted in all white, and the brand name "Lufthansa" was painted above the windows, also in dark blue.
The company slogan is 'Say yes to the world.'
Alliances and partnerships
Commercial
Lufthansa bought a 19% stake in
JetBlue Airways in December 2007 and entered a code-sharing agreement with the airline. It was the first major investment by a European carrier in an American carrier since the EU–U.S. Open Skies Agreement came into effect in 2008. Lufthansa sold its stake in JetBlue in March 2015.
In late 2007, Lufthansa Cargo was forced to relocate a hub from Kazakhstan to Russia.
On 28 August 2008, Lufthansa and Brussels Airlines announced that they were negotiating a merger.[ Lufthansa.com. Konzern.lufthansa.com (28 June 2011). Retrieved on 8 July 2011. ]
Lufthansa acquired a 45% stake in Brussels Airlines in 2009. It has an option to acquire the remaining 55% by 2017. As a part of the deal, Brussels Airlines joined Star Alliance in December 2009.[ staralliance.com . staralliance.com. Retrieved on 8 July 2011.]
On 28 October 2008, Lufthansa exercised its option to purchase a further 60% share in BMI (in addition to the 20% Lufthansa already owned), this resulted in a dispute with the former owner Sir Michael Bishop. Both parties reached an agreement at the end of June 2009, and the acquisition took place with effect from 1 July 2009.
Lufthansa completed the purchase of Austrian Airlines from the Austrian government in January 2009.
In 2010, Lufthansa was named in a European Commission investigation into price-fixing, but was not fined because it acted as a whistleblower.
In April 2012, Lufthansa completed the sale of BMI to International Airlines Group (IAG), owner of British Airways and Iberia for £172.5 million.
In July 2012, a Qantas–Lufthansa Technik maintenance deal for Tullamarine airport fell through due to having insufficient engine maintenance work to support the partnership. This resulted in 164 engineers being made redundant. This followed just months after the closing of heavy maintenance operations, which resulted in 400 additional job losses. It was announced that the Lufthansa Technik–Qantas partnership would end in September.
Lufthansa also coordinates scheduling and ticket sales on transatlantic flights with Air Canada and United Airlines (as do Brussels Airlines, Swiss and Austrian Airlines). Lufthansa (with Swiss and Austrian Airlines) cooperates similarly with ANA on flights to Japan. Both ventures required the approval of competition authorities.
Technology
Until April 2009, Lufthansa inventory and departure control systems, based on
Unisys, were managed by LH Systems. Lufthansa reservations systems were outsourced to Amadeus in the early 1990s. Following a decision to outsource all components of the Passenger Service System, the functions were outsourced to the Altéa platform managed by Amadeus.
Since 2007 Lufthansa Systems, the IT services provider branch of the group relies on solutions by Actian, such as Ingres database and the OpenROAD, to power its Lido/FlightPlanning solution, which is used by around 300 commercial airlines across the world for flight planning.
Lufthansa Cargo, the cargo airline subsidiary of Lufthansa, uses Zeenea Data Discovery Platform as their data catalog solution.
Partner airlines
Lufthansa describes
Luxair and
LATAM as partner airlines. The partnerships mainly involve code-sharing and recognition of each other's frequent flier programmes.
Sponsorships
Lufthansa sponsors
Bundesliga club Eintracht Frankfurt.
The Lufthansa Group also sponsors the German Sports Aid Foundation to promote its sociopolitical goals and the athletes it sponsors.
Lufthansa Group
The Lufthansa Group is the owner of Lufthansa Airlines and other partners, namely Brussels Airlines, Swiss International Air Lines,
Edelweiss Air (owned by Swiss International Air Lines),
Air Dolomiti, Austrian Airlines,
Lufthansa Cargo, Lufthansa CityLine,
Eurowings, Discover Airlines,
Germanwings (until 2020), and, plans to take a stake in
ITA Airways.
Lufthansa is also considering buying SAS Scandinavian Airlines and the Portuguese airline TAP Portugal. Lufthansa attempted to buy TAP Portugal in 2019 but the deal fell through as a result of COVID-19. Some Lufthansa Group members are also members of the
Star Alliance. The Lufthansa Group is the second-largest airline group in Europe by passengers, carrying 93 million in 2022.
Acquisition of ITA Airways
On 30 March 2023, Lufthansa CEO
Carsten Spohr visited
ITA Airways headquarters in
Rome to negotiate a deal to buy the Italian airline. According to news agency
Reuters, negotiations will start at around €200 million for 40% of the airline, with Lufthansa wanting an option to buy the entire airline from the Italian finance ministry.
On 24 April, the negotiation deadline ended without an agreement made. Both parties stated that negotiations were nearly finished, so they would continue negotiating until 12 May.
This date was once again postponed with both parties saying that negotiations are "On a good way."
At the meeting of G7 leaders in Hiroshima in May 2022, the topic was discussed between the German and Italian leaders. They had talked about "rising the synergies between the industry of the two countries."
On 25 May, a deal was finally signed, with Lufthansa paying €325 million for 41% of the airline. Lufthansa also has an option to buy the rest of the company; if this happens, this price will comply with the airline's profit. As part of the deal, Rome becomes a hub of the Lufthansa Group, with Milan also being considered.
Destinations
Interline agreements
Lufthansa have interline agreements with the following airline partners:
-
Azul Brazilian Airlines
-
Uzbekistan Airways
Codeshare agreements
Lufthansa have codeshare agreements with the following airline partners:
LH Part of the Lufthansa Group.
Joint Ventures
In addition, Lufthansa have entered into joint ventures with the following airline partners:
-
All Nippon Airways
-
Singapore Airlines
Fleet
Aircraft naming conventions
In September 1960, a Lufthansa Boeing 707 (D-ABOC), which would serve the Frankfurt-New York intercontinental route, was christened
Berlin after the divided city of Berlin by then-mayor
Willy Brandt. Following
Berlin, other Lufthansa 707 planes were named "
Hamburg", "Frankfurt", "
Munich", and "
Bonn". With these names, the company established a tradition of naming the planes in its fleet after German cities and towns or federal states, with a rule of thumb that the aeroplane make, size, or route would correspond roughly to the relative size or importance of the city or town it was named after.
This tradition continued, with two notable exceptions, until 2010: The first was an Airbus A340-300 registered D-AIFC, named "Gander/Halifax", after two Canadian cities along the standard flight path from Europe to North America. It became the first Lufthansa aeroplane named after a non-German city. The name commemorates the hospitality of the communities of Gander and Halifax, which served as improvised safe havens for the passengers and crew of the multitude of international aircraft unable to return to their originating airports during Operation Yellow Ribbon after the September 11, 2001 attacks. The other aircraft not named after a German city was an Airbus A321-100 registered as D-AIRA, which was designated Finkenwerder in honor of the Airbus facility in the district of Finkenwerder,[ lh-taufnamen.de – Lufthansa retrieved 20 June 2016] where about 40% of Airbus narrowbody models are manufactured.
In February 2010, Lufthansa announced that its first two Airbus A380s would be named Frankfurt am Main (D-AIMA) and München (D-AIMB) after Lufthansa's two hub airports. Subsequent A380 aircraft were named after other Lufthansa Group hub airports Zürich, Wien (Vienna) and Brüssel (Brussels) and the major German cities of Düsseldorf and Berlin. The remaining A380s were named after Star Alliance hub cities Tokyo, Beijing, Johannesburg, New York, San Francisco and Delhi. However, D-AIMN San Francisco was renamed Deutschland (Germany) in 2014.
As of 2014, there are several short- and long-haul aircraft in Lufthansa's fleet that do not bear any name. They either never received one or their former one has been given to a newer aircraft, which was the case for several Boeing 747-400s. For example, the former Bayern (Bavaria), a Boeing 747-400 still in active service, lost that name to a new Boeing 747-8I.
Vintage aircraft restoration
Lufthansa Technik, the airline's maintenance arm, restored a Junkers Ju 52/3m built in 1936 to
airworthy; this aircraft was in use on the 10-hour Berlin to Rome route, across the
Alps, in the 1930s. Lufthansa is now restoring a Lockheed Super Constellation, using parts from three such aircraft bought at auctions. Lufthansa's Super Constellations and L1649 "Starliners" served routes such as
Hamburg–
Madrid–
Dakar–
Caracas–
Santiago. Lufthansa Technik recruits retired employees and volunteers for skilled labour.
Airbus A380
Lufthansa had initially ordered a total of fifteen Airbus A380-800, of which ten were delivered by June 2012. In September 2011, two more A380s were ordered; this order was confirmed on 14 March 2013. However, in September 2013 it was announced that the Lufthansa Supervisory Board had approved the purchase of only twelve of the first fifteen A380s. Thus, a total of fourteen A380s have been added to the fleet.
Lufthansa used initially its A380s from and to Frankfurt am Main (nine aircraft) and since March 2018 to and from Munich as well (five aircraft). From 6 to 12 December 2011, Lufthansa already used an A380 once a day on the route from Munich to New York-JFK. This happened mainly against the backdrop of Christmas shopping in New York City.
On 13 March 2019, Lufthansa announced that it will be removing six A380 aircraft from the fleet and replacing them with Boeing 787-9 and Airbus A350-900 aircraft.
On 8 March 2020, Lufthansa announced that it would be grounding all of its A380 aircraft due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lufthansa announced on 27 June 2022 that the remaining fleet of eight A380s will be reactivated and brought back into service for the 2023 summer season.
Following their reactivation, Lufthansa announced the A380 was to begin revenue flights from Munich Airport to Boston Logan on 1 June 2023 and New York-JFK on 4 July 2023, with routes to Los Angeles and Bangkok to follow in October.
The airline reactivated its eighth and last remaining A380 in September 2024.
Services
Frequent-flyer programme
Lufthansa's frequent-flyer programme is called
Miles & More, and is shared among several European airlines, including all of Lufthansa's subsidiary airlines (excluding the
SunExpress joint ventures), plus Condor (formerly owned by Lufthansa),
Croatia Airlines, LOT Polish Airlines, and
Luxair (previously part-owned by Lufthansa).
Miles & More members may earn miles on Lufthansa flights and
Star Alliance partner flights, as well as through Lufthansa credit cards, and purchases made through the Lufthansa shops. Status within Miles & More is determined by miles flown during one calendar year with specific partners. Membership levels include: Miles & More member (no minimal threshold), Frequent Traveller (Silver, threshold or 30 individual flights), Senator (Gold, threshold), and HON Circle (Black, threshold over two calendar years). All Miles & More status levels higher than Miles & More member offer lounge access and executive bonus miles, with the higher levels offering more exclusive benefits.
Cabins
First Class
First Class is offered on Airbus A340-600s, the front of the upper deck on Airbus A380s, and the nose of the main deck on Boeing 747-8s. Each seat converts to a bed, includes laptop power outlets, as well as entertainment facilities. Meals are available on demand. Lufthansa offers dedicated First Class check-in counters at most airports, and offers dedicated First Class lounges in Frankfurt and
Munich Airport, as well as a dedicated first-class terminal in Frankfurt. Arriving passengers have the option of using Lufthansa's First Class arrival facilities, as well as the new Welcome Lounge. Lufthansa introduced a new First Class product aboard the Airbus A380 and planned to gradually introduce it on all of its long-haul aircraft.
However, with the new program SCORE, introduced to boost profits by 1.5 billion euros over the following years, Lufthansa halted route expansion and extensively decreased its First Class offerings on most routes.
In October 2022, a new suite style First Class product was unveiled, and will be introduced on new A350 deliveries in 2023. In 2017 the airline announced that its first few Boeing 777-9s would not include First Class seats, however, First Class could be installed on later deliveries.
the only remaining First Class seats Lufthansa offered were on its Boeing 747-8Is, with 10 Airbus A350-900s with First Class seats
Business Class
Business Class is offered on all long-haul aircraft. Seats convert to lie-flat beds and include laptop power outlets and entertainment facilities.
Lufthansa offers dedicated Business Class check-in counters at all airports, as well as dedicated Business Class lounges at most airports, or contract lounges at other airports, as well as the Lufthansa Welcome Lounge upon arrival in Frankfurt. As of 2014, Business Class on all widebody aircraft feature lie-flat seats.
Lufthansa released plans for a new business class set to be released in 2023 on the Boeing 787-9 and Airbus A350, and will retrofit the rest of the fleet in the coming years.
Premium Economy
Introduced in 2014,
Lufthansa's long-haul Premium Economy was rolled out on all long-haul aircraft, starting with some Boeing 747-8Is. Similar in design to
Air Canada's Premium Economy or
British Airways' World Traveller Plus cabins, Premium Economy features pitch along with up to more width than economy class, depending on the aircraft. The seats also feature an personal seat-back entertainment screen and a larger armrest separating seats. Along with the planned introduction of the Boeing 777-9X, the airline plans to add a new Premium Economy cabin with a "shell" design. These seats are also to be installed on SWISS' Boeing 777-300ERs and Airbus A340-300s from the first and second quarter of 2021, respectively.
Bus service
A bus service from Nuremberg Airport to
Munich Airport was reinstated in 2021 to replace short-haul flights between the two cities.
[ airliners.de (German) 20 January 2022] Lufthansa operated a check-in point in
Nuremberg and a bus service from Nuremberg to
Munich Airport in the late 1990s.
Accidents and incidents
This is a list of accidents and incidents involving Lufthansa mainline aircraft since 1956. For earlier occurrences, refer to Deutsche Luft Hansa. For accidents and incidents on Lufthansa-branded flights which were operated by other airlines, see the respective articles (Lufthansa CityLine, Lufthansa Cargo, Contact Air, Germanwings, and Air Dolomiti).
Fatal
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On 11 January 1959, Lufthansa Flight 502, a Lufthansa Lockheed Super Constellation (registered D-ALAK) crashed onto a beach shortly off Galeão Airport in Rio de Janeiro following a scheduled passenger flight from Hamburg, Germany. Of the 29 passengers and 10 crew members on board, only the co-pilot and 2 flight attendants survived. The investigation into the accident resulted in blaming the pilots for having executed a too low approach, which may have been caused by fatigue.
[ Lufthansa 1959 crash at the Aviation Safety Network . Aviation-safety.net. Retrieved on 8 July 2011.]
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On 4 December 1961, a Lufthansa Boeing 720 (registered D-ABOK) crashed of unknown causes near Mainz during a training flight from Frankfurt to Cologne, killing the three occupants. It was the first crash involving an aircraft of that type.
[ Lufthansa 1961 accidents at the Aviation Safety Network . Aviation-safety.net (4 December 1961). Retrieved on 8 July 2011.]
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On 15 July 1964, another Boeing 720 (registered D-ABOP) crashed during a training flight, with the three people, including Werner Baake, on board losing their lives (in what was only the second crash for this aircraft type). The accident occurred near Ansbach after the pilots had lost control of the aircraft when executing an aileron roll.
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On 28 January 1966 at 17:50 local time, Lufthansa Flight 005 from Frankfurt to Bremen, which was operated using a Convair CV-440 Metropolitan registered D-ACAT, crashed short of Bremen Airport, killing all 42 passengers and 4 crew members on board. The pilots had tried to execute a go-around when approaching the airport, during which the aircraft stalled and went out of control, possibly due to pilot error.
[ Lufthansa Flight 5 at the Aviation Safety Network . Aviation-safety.net (28 January 1966). Retrieved on 8 July 2011.]
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delivered to Lufthansa. It is seen here during a promotional event at Nuremberg Airport in 1970.]] On 20 November 1974 at 07:54 local time, Lufthansa Flight 540, a Boeing 747-100 (registered D-ABYB), lost power and crashed shortly after take-off at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in what was the first air accident involving a Boeing 747. 55 out of the 140 passengers and 4 out of the 17 crew lost their lives, making it the worst accident in the history of the airline.
[ Flight 540 at the Aviation Safety Network . Aviation-safety.net. Retrieved on 8 July 2011.]
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On 26 July 1979 at 21:32 UTC, a cargo-configured Boeing 707 (registered D-ABUY) that was en route Lufthansa Flight 527 from Rio de Janeiro to Dakar and onwards to Germany crashed into a mountain from Galeão Airport during initial climb, killing the three crew members on board. A flawed communication between the pilots and the air traffic controller had resulted in the aircraft flying on a wrong path.
[ Flight 527 at the Aviation Safety Network . Aviation-safety.net. Retrieved on 8 July 2011.]
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In January 1984, a woman was found dead in a suitcase which was lying on an LAX baggage carousel for a while. The suitcase had arrived on a Lufthansa flight. The woman was later discovered to have been an Iranian citizen who had recently married another Iranian with Green card status. She had been denied a US visa in West Germany and therefore decided to enter the US like this.
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On 14 September 1993, Lufthansa Flight 2904, an Airbus A320-200 (registered D-AIPN) flying from Frankfurt to Warsaw with 64 passengers and 4 crew members on board, overran the runway upon landing at Warsaw-Okecie Airport, and crashed into an earth embankment, resulting in the death of the co-pilot and one passenger.
[ Flight 2904 at the Aviation Safety Network . Aviation-safety.net (14 September 1993). Retrieved on 8 July 2011.]
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On 28 May 1999, German border police suffocated Aamir Ageeb to death, whom they were escorting aboard Lufthansa Flight 588 from Frankfurt to Cairo. During takeoff, the officers restrained and pinned down Ageeb, a Sudanese man deported from Germany after being rejected for asylum.
Non-fatal
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On 20 December 1973 at 00:33 local time, a Lufthansa Boeing 707 (registered D-ABOT) with 98 passengers and 11 crew members on board collided with a Marker beacon shack upon approaching Palam Airport in Delhi following a scheduled passenger flight from Bangkok (as part of a multi-leg flight back to Germany). There were no injuries, but the aircraft was damaged beyond repair. Visibility was poor at the time of the accident.
[ 1973 incident at the Aviation Safety Network . Aviation-safety.net (20 December 1973). Retrieved on 8 July 2011.]
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On 18 October 1983, a Boeing 747-200 freighter ran off the runway at Kai Tak airport in Hong Kong and got bogged in the grass after an engine failure during take-off.
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On 11 June 2018, one of the airline's Airbus A340-300s, registered as D-AIFA, was being towed to its departure gate at Frankfurt Airport when the towing vehicle caught fire. Despite the quick action of the airport fire brigade, the aircraft suffered substantial fire and smoke damage to the nose and flight deck. Six people were treated for smoke inhalation.
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On 1 March 2023, Lufthansa Flight 469, an Airbus A330-343 flying from Austin, Texas to Frankfurt experienced sudden clear-air turbulence while over Tennessee, resulting in the flight being diverted to Dulles International Airport and seven passengers hospitalized after landing.
Hijackings and criminal events
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In 1972, the year of the Munich Summer Olympics, there were four reported hijackings involving Lufthansa aircraft:
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On 22 February, Flight 649, a Boeing 747-200 (registered D-ABYD) with 172 passengers and 15 crew members on board was hijacked en route from New Delhi to Athens (as part of a multi-leg flight from Tokyo to Frankfurt) by five Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terrorists who then pressed for a $5 million ransom from the German government. The aircraft landed at Aden International Airport, and the hostages were released on the following day once the demands of the perpetrators were accepted.
[ February 1972 hijacking at the Aviation Safety Network . Aviation-safety.net. Retrieved on 8 July 2011.]
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On 10 July, a similar hijacking attempt occurred on board a Lufthansa Boeing 737-100 during a flight from Cologne to Munich.
[ July 1972 hijacking at the Aviation Safety Network . Aviation-safety.net (10 July 1972). Retrieved on 8 July 2011.]
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11 October a Boeing 727 was hijacked on a flight from Lisbon to Frankfurt. Upon landing at Frankfurt Airport, the perpetrator tried to flee but was captured by police forces.
[ October 1972 hijacking at the Aviation Safety Network . Aviation-safety.net (11 October 1972). Retrieved on 8 July 2011.]
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On 29 October, two men hijacked Flight 615 with 11 other passengers and 7 crew members on board during a flight from Beirut to Ankara (and onwards to Germany), in order to liberate the three surviving members of the Black September group responsible for the Munich massacre. Whilst the hijacked Boeing 727 (registered D-ABIG) was forced to circle over Zagreb Airport in danger of eventual fuel starvation, the West German authorities decided to comply with the demands. The prisoners were handed over and the aircraft was allowed to be flown to Tripoli, where the hostages were released.
[ 29 October 1972 hijacking at the Aviation Safety Network . Aviation-safety.net. Retrieved on 8 July 2011.]
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On 17 December 1973, in the wake of the events surrounding Pan Am Flight 110, a parked Lufthansa Boeing 737-100 (registered D-ABEY) was hijacked at Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport in Rome. 10 Italian hostages that had been taken by Palestinian terrorists at the airport were forced into the aircraft by 5 perpetrators, and the German crew (2 pilots and 2 flight attendants) that was on board preparing the departure to Munich had to fly the aircraft instead first to Athens and then to several other airports until the ordeal ended at Kuwait International Airport the next day, where the hijackers surrendered.
[ 1973 hijacking at the Aviation Safety Network . Aviation-safety.net. Retrieved on 8 July 2011.]
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On 28 June 1977, a Lufthansa Boeing 727 was hijacked during a flight from Frankfurt to Istanbul and forced to divert to Munich.
[ June 1977 hijacking at the Aviation Safety Network . Aviation-safety.net (28 June 1977). Retrieved on 8 July 2011.]
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The hijacking of the Landshut occurred on 13 October 1977, at a time when West Germany had come under intense terroristic pressure known as German Autumn. The Boeing 737-200 (registered D-ABCE) was hijacked en route Flight 181 from Palma de Mallorca to Frankfurt by 4 terrorists of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, who thus wanted to force the German government to release several RAF terrorists. The crew had to divert the aircraft with 87 other passengers first to Rome, and then onwards to Larnaca, Bahrain, Dubai, Aden (where the captain was killed when he returned to the aircraft after negotiations with the local authorities), and finally to Mogadishu in an ordeal that took several days. At Mogadishu Airport, the German GSG 9 special forces stormed the aircraft in the early hours of 18 October local time, killing 3 terrorists and freeing all hostages.
[ Flight 181 at the Aviation Safety Network . Aviation-safety.net. Retrieved on 8 July 2011.]
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On 11 December 1978, Lufthansa was the victim of a major heist (robbery) at John F. Kennedy International Airport. The Lufthansa heist led to Lufthansa losing about US$5 million.
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On 12 September 1979, a hijacking attempt occurred on board a Lufthansa Boeing 727 on a flight from Frankfurt to Cologne, but the perpetrator quickly surrendered.
[ 1979 hijacking attempt at the Aviation Safety Network . Aviation-safety.net (12 September 1979). Retrieved on 8 July 2011.]
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Three hijackings occurred in due course in early 1985:
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On 11 February 1993, Lufthansa Flight 592 from Frankfurt to Addis Ababa via Cairo with 94 passengers and 10 crew members was hijacked during the first leg by 20-year-old Nebiu Zewolde Demeke, who forced the pilots to divert the Airbus A310 (registered D-AIDM) to the United States, with the intent of securing the right of asylum there. Demeke, who had been on the flight to be deportation back to his native Ethiopia, surrendered to authorities upon arrival at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City. No passengers or crew members were harmed during the 12-hour ordeal.
[ Flight 595 at the Aviation Safety Network . Aviation-safety.net. Retrieved on 8 July 2011.]
Customer issues
Barring of visibly Jewish passengers
In May 2022, during a New York to Frankfurt flight, the captain alerted Lufthansa security that some passengers had failed to follow crew instructions requiring the wearing of masks and barring gathering. The company then barred over a hundred visibly Jewish passengers from the flight from boarding a connecting flight to Budapest.
The majority were rebooked on other flights the same day.
The American Jewish Committee stated that "Banning ALL Jews from a flight because of an alleged mask violation by some Jewish passengers is textbook antisemitism from Lufthansa".
In August 2022, as a result of the incident, Lufthansa adopted the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism and appointed a senior manager with responsibility for preventing antisemitism and other discrimination.
See also
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Air transport in Germany
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List of airlines of Germany
Footnotes
Citations
Bibliography
External links
