Lufthansa Italia Explained

Airline:Lufthansa Italia
Iata:LH
Icao:LIT
Callsign:MIRACOLO
Founded:2008
Commenced:2 February 2009
Ceased:29 October 2011
Bases:Milan–Malpensa
Frequent Flyer:Miles & More
Alliance:Star Alliance (affiliate)
Fleet Size:9
Destinations:18
Parent:Lufthansa
Headquarters:Milan, Italy
Key People:Michael Kraus, CEO

Lufthansa Italia S.p.A. was an Italian airline and a wholly owned subsidiary of the German Lufthansa Group headquartered in Milan and based at Milan–Malpensa Airport. Operations started on 2 February 2009 and ceased on 29 October 2011.[1]

History

Foundation

On 28 April 2008 Lufthansa announced plans to commence intra-European flights out of Milan–Malpensa Airport using six Embraer 195 aircraft from its subsidiary Air Dolomiti.[2] On 26 November 2008 the new brand Lufthansa Italia was formed instead of the originally planned Air Dolomiti operations.[1] [3] Operations started on 2 February 2009 using the larger Airbus A319-100.[4] The new subsidiary was established to allow Lufthansa to better tap into the lucrative North Italian market that was all but abandoned by Alitalia during a series of cutbacks. The airline's on board cuisine was aimed towards the Italian market, with Italian foods and drinks. For example, in business class, Italian espresso was served.

Shutdown

On 23 July 2011, Lufthansa reported in a press release that it would stop all Lufthansa Italia operations by 29 October 2011[5] as it had been proven too difficult to operate the Italian-based operations economically. As a replacement, the Lufthansa Group increased their flights from Italian destinations to their German hubs in Frankfurt and Munich instead.[6] The last scheduled flight of Lufthansa Italia was LH3627 on 29 October 2011, which landed at 16:35, coming from Palermo to Milan-Malpensa, which was flown on the Airbus A319-100 with the registration D-AKNJ. The former Lufthansa Italia aircraft have been transferred back to other Lufthansa Group airlines.

Destinations

The following cities were served by Lufthansa Italia prior to its shutdown on 29 October 2011:[7]

Hub
Seasonal
CityCountryIATAICAOAirport
BarcelonaBCNLEBLJosep Tarradellas Barcelona–El Prat Airport
BariBRILIBDBari Airport
CagliariCAGLIEECagliari Airport
Casablanca MoroccoCASGMMCCasablanca Anfa Airport
CataniaCTALICCCatania Airport
IbizaIBZLEIBIbiza Airport
LisbonLISLPPTLisbon Airport
LondonLHREGLLHeathrow Airport
MadridMADLEMDAdolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport
MilanMXPLIMCMilan Malpensa Airport
NaplesNAPLIRNNaples Airport
OlbiaOLBLIEOOlbia Airport
PalermoPMOLICJPalermo Airport
Palma de MallorcaPMILEPAPalma de Mallorca Airport
ParisCDGLFPGCharles de Gaulle Airport
Prague Czech RepublicPRGLKPRVáclav Havel Airport Prague
StockholmARNESSAStockholm Arlanda Airport
WarsawWAWEPWAWarsaw Chopin Airport

Fleet

The Lufthansa Italia fleet consisted of the following aircraft. All aircraft were given names of Italian cities, such as 'Bologna' and 'Varese', and were painted in a modified Lufthansa livery while retaining their German registrations.

+ Lufthansa Italia fleetAircraftTotalPassengersNotes
JYTotal
Airbus A319-100912120132taken over from Germanwings and Lufthansa
Total9

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://konzern.lufthansa.com/en/html/presse/pressemeldungen/index.html?c=nachrichten/app/show/en/2008/11/874/HOM&s=0 Lufthansa press release: "Lufthansa launches new Lufthansa Italia brand"
  2. http://konzern.lufthansa.com/en/html/presse/pressemeldungen/index.html?c=nachrichten/app/show/en/2008/04/818/HOM&s=0 Lufthansa press release: "Lufthansa boosts services from Milan"
  3. Espinoza, Javier. "Lufthansa's Italian Adventure." Forbes. 26 November 2008.
  4. http://konzern.lufthansa.com/en/html/presse/pressemeldungen/index.html?c=nachrichten/app/show/en/2008/09/856/HOM&s=0 Lufthansa press release: "Fly Lufthansa direct from Milan to major European cities"
  5. Web site: Lufthansa and Air Dolomiti will take over role of the Lufthansa Italia brand – Air Dolomiti to expand route network. 2011-05-23. 27 August 2011. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20110903000725/http://presse.lufthansa.com/en/news-releases/singleview/archive/2011/may/23/article/1936.html. 3 September 2011.
  6. Web site: Rückzug vom Drehkreuz in Mailand - aus für "Lufthansa Italia".
  7. Web site: Lufthansa Italia on ch-aviation.