Technology

On This Day In 1955 Lufthansa Commenced Operations

8 months ago 3 min read

Sixty-eight years in the past, on April 1, 1955, Lufthansa, as we all know it right this moment, took to the skies in two Convair plane from Hamburg and Munich. These are thought to be the provider’s first flights, and since then, they’ve grown to develop into a corporation consisting of the unique airline, Eurowings, SWISS, Austrian Airways, and Brussels Airways. However do you know the identify has its roots within the Twenties?

Pre-war beginnings

Deutsche Luft Hansa, also called DLH, was an airline based in 1926 by the merger of the provider Deutscher Aero Lloyd and plane producer Junkers Luftverkehr. It rapidly turned a major European provider, servicing most of central Europe and with routes so far as Moscow, Stockholm, London, and the Gulf space. By 1931 the airline was liable for as a lot as 33% of European passenger journey and air transport.

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From the mid to late 30s, DLH had transatlantic routes to South America and was reaching new cities within the Center East. Though the corporate was on a roll, the airline can be largely taken over throughout World Warfare II. With Europe thrown into turmoil, DLH got here below the management of the state, with its plane serving conflict efforts, and the corporate primarily targeted on upkeep. Restricted passenger companies continued, although they had been topic to heavy restrictions.

A post-war Germany wanted a brand new provider

With Germany’s defeat on the conflict’s finish, DLH was ultimately terminated. However quickly after dissolving the unique airline, the nation established a brand new flag provider, “Aktiengesellschaft für Luftverkehrsbedarf” (Luftag), in Cologne in January 1953. A yr and a half later, on August 6, 1954, Luftag took benefit of a liquidation alternative to buy DLH’s identify, brand – the enduring crane, and the blue and yellow coloration scheme. With this, the corporate modified its identify to “Deutsche Lufthansa Aktiengesellschaft” (Deutsche Lufthansa Inventory Firm), reviving Lufthansa as a model.

Over the subsequent yr, Lufthansa sought new plane and educated new pilots, engineers, and flight attendants. And at last, on April 1, 1955, the airline started operations because the renewed German flag provider. Plane utilized by the airline in its early years included the Convair CV-440 Metropolitan and the Lockheed L-1049G Tremendous Constellation. Within the subsequent three years, Lufthansa constructed up its route community to incorporate Europe, the Americas, Africa, and Asia to the Far East.

Lufthansa continues to develop by means of the many years

Based mostly out of Hamburg, Lufthansa acquired its first jet plane by buying the Boeing 707. As the corporate grew, the airline moved its long-haul flights to Frankfurt Airport, now the biggest in Germany, and expanded cargo operations. Within the Nineteen Seventies, they launched numerous iconic plane from completely different producers, such because the Boeing 747, Douglas DC 10, and Airbus A300.

Photograph: Lukas Souza | Easy Flying

The Nineties introduced vital company adjustments to Lufthansa. Lufthansa Technik AG, Lufthansa Cargo AG, and Lufthansa Techniques GmbH turned impartial companies. A few years later, the corporate was privatized, then joined Air Canada, SAS, Thai Airways, and United Airways to type the Star Alliance, the trade’s largest. Quick ahead to right this moment, they usually’re an enormous group proudly owning a number of distinguished European airways; as an organization, Europe’s second largest within the trade solely to Ryanair.

Are you a frequent flyer with Lufthansa? Or have you ever flown on them simply a few instances? Inform us about your expertise within the feedback beneath!

Sources: Lufthansa Group, Britannica