Lufthansa CityLine

Lufthansa CityLine GmbH is a regional airline based in Cologne, Germany.^[1] It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Lufthansa and member of the Lufthansa Regional network. It is the largest regional airline in Europe. Its main base is Cologne Bonn Airport, with hubs at Frankfurt Airport and Munich Airport. ^[2]

History

The airline was founded as Ostfriesische Lufttaxi (OLT) in 1958 and became Ostfriesische Lufttransport (OLT) in 1970 (still exists today as a separate airline) in Emden. It was reorganised and renamed as DLT Luftverkehrsgesellschaft mbH on 1 October 1974 and began cooperation with Lufthansa in 1978 with short-range international routes. By 1988 all operations were on behalf of Lufthansa. In March 1992 DLT became a wholly owned subsidiary of Lufthansa and was renamed Lufthansa CityLine. It had 2,520 employees at July 2007.^[3]

Destinations

Fleet

As of November 2011, the Lufthansa CityLine fleet consists of the following aircraft with an average age of 8.8 years:^[4][5]

Lease extensions have been signed on 13 of the Avro RJ85 fleet, which means they will remain in service with the airline well into the next decade.^[6]

Lufthansa placed an order on 17 April 2007 for 30 Embraer E-190/195 and 15 Bombardier CRJ-900 aircraft to directly replace its fleet of BAe 146 and Avro RJ aircraft, of which 18 are operated by Lufthansa CityLine and 24 by Swiss European Air Lines.

On 22 November 2008, Lufthansa Cityline announced it will reduce its Bombardier CRJ200 fleet by almost 60% within a year starting in early 2009. The reason given was that the aircraft type was getting old and too costly to operate compared to more modern competitors.^[7]

Fleet development

Over the years, Lufthansa CityLine operated the following aircraft types:^[8][9]

Accidents and incidents

• On 6 January 1993, Lufthansa Flight 5634 from Bremen to Paris, which was carried out under the Lufthansa CityLine brand using a Contact Air Dash 8-300 (registered D-BEAT), hit the ground 1800 metres short of the runway of Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport, resulting in the death of four out of the 23 passengers on board. The four crew members survived. The accident occurred after the pilot had to abort the final approach to the airport because the runway had been closed due to the aircraft ahead, a Korean Air Boeing 747, suffering a blown tyre upon landing.^[10]
• On 28 December 1999, a passenger on board Lufthansa Flight 5293 from Prague to Düsseldorf, which was operated by Lufthansa CityLine using a Bombardier CRJ100 aircraft (registered D-ACJA), claimed to have a bomb on board and demanded the flight be diverted to the United Kingdom. The pilots covinced him to have a fuel stop at Düsseldorf International Airport, where all passengers left the plane (many of them unbeknownst of the hijacking attempt), and the perpetrator was arrested.^[11]
• On 7 August 2004 at 18:57 local time, a Lufthansa CityLine Avro RJ85 (registered D-AVRO) experienced a total failure of its ailerons and elevators whilst enroute from Frankfurt to Graz as Lufthansa Flight 5386. The pilots managed to perform an emergency landing at Graz Airport.^[12]

References

External links

Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Lufthansa_CityLine Lufthansa CityLine] at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website