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With just 48 hours notice prior to halting operations, Lufthansa CityLine ceased flying on April 18, citing rising fuel prices linked to the Iran war and pressures from labour disputes. The Lufthansa Group described the closure as part of its accelerated strategy implementation.
In the weeks before the airline’s closure, Lufthansa CityLine employees took part in strike action for five consecutive days. In an internal video to staff, CityLine’s management blamed a lack of reliability and operational stability alongside cost pressures for the closure.
The impact on passengers
The immediate closure of Lufthansa CityLine has removed around 20,000 short-haul flights through October 2026. Frankfurt routes to Bydgoszcz, Rzeszów, Cork and Stavanger have been suspended through to the end of May.
However, the airline’s successor, Lufthansa City Airlines, is already flying to around 40 destinations from Munich and Frankfurt. The airline, which commenced in June 2024, uses Airbus aircraft on a lower-cost model. Lufthansa CityLine employees have been offered jobs across the group, including at Lufthansa City Airlines.
Lufthansa CityLine traces back to 1958 when the airline was founded as Ostfriesische Lufttaxi (OLT). By 1989, all its operations were flown on behalf of Lufthansa, which took full ownership in 1992 and rebranded the airline to CityLine.
Wider Lufthansa Group restructuring
As airline profit margins shrink further with rising fuel costs, Lufthansa has announced plans to retire the last four of its Airbus A340-600 aircraft in October 2026. Full retirement of the airline’s Boeing 747-400s is due for 2027.
The group plans to reallocate nine Airbus A350-900s to its leisure carrier Discover Airlines, accelerating an expansion that was already set to take Discover Airlines to 40 aircraft by 2028. In a bid to concentrate premium and business traffic at Lufthansa, leisure flying will be pushed to Discover Airlines and regional feeder services to Lufthansa City Airlines.
Citing AI-driven efficiency gains, duplicated processes across subsidiaries, and missed profitability targets, the group plans to cut around 4% of its 103,000-strong workforce
Lufthansa Group airlines hold Seven Star safety ratings
Lufthansa Group airlines, including Lufthansa, SWISS, Brussels Airlines, ITA Airways, Austrian Airlines, Eurowings, Edelweiss Air and Air Dolomiti, are Seven Star safety-rated airlines according to AirlineRatings.com.
In its World’s Safest Airlines ratings in January 2026, the group’s leading airline, Lufthansa, placed in the world’s top 25 safest airlines. All airlines in the group maintain IOSA accreditation, no fatal crashes in the last decade, no operational safety concerns and no pilot-related incidents.
Lufthansa was also named the World’s Best Hybrid Carrier in AirlineRating.com’s World’s Best Airline ratings in March 2026.
A new era for Lufthansa Group
The closure of CityLine signals more than the end of a regional carrier, but an accelerated pivot at Europe’s largest airline group towards a leaner operation. The Iran war and the labour strikes brought forward decisions already in discussion, but the strategic direction was set well before the announcement.
The group’s transformation is underway, with premium and business flying consolidated by Lufthansa, leisure routes by Discover Airlines and regional connections by City Airlines.
For passengers and the wider aviation market, the closure removes around 20,000 short-haul flights and reroutes several regional connections through other Lufthansa Group airlines.
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