Who is the founder of Lufthansa? – Europe’s largest airline

When considered together with its current subsidiaries, Lufthansa is an aviation empire of German origin. Having achieved the honor of being Europe’s largest airline in terms of both services offered to passengers and fleet size, this holding—with assets exceeding 30 billion Euros—organizes flights to almost every point in the world. So; who founded Lufthansa, whose foundations were laid in the city of Berlin, Germany? Where do its roots extend? What stages did it pass through until it took its current form? Here is the success story of this German aircraft collector in broad terms…

When was Lufthansa founded?

The company, whose full name is “Deutsche Lufthansa AG,” dates back to the 1920s, even though it existed in 1953. In other words, it is not an aviation company that suddenly appeared with inflated capital like Emirates and many Arab airline companies; it is a company that came into existence with German discipline-technique and decades of experience.

The first company to exist to operate in the aviation sector was the public company named Deutsche Luft Hansa A.G., founded in 1926. As you know, those were the times of Nazi Germany. We have all read how efficiently most of the industrial enterprises worked despite being in the hands of the state. Luft Hansa was a veteran organization that provided all kinds of services, from passenger planes to warplanes, until the defeat of the Nazis in 1945. Its fate in 1945 is not hard to guess: upon the disappearance of Nazi Germany, there was no service area left for Luft Hansa and the company closed down.

After an 8-year period of silence, the newly established German State also decided to invest in airline transportation; thus, the foundation of the Lufthansa we know today was laid in 1953. Although its name was set as Luftag at that time, almost all of the employees in this company were former Luft Hansa employees.

Choosing Hamburg Airport as its hub, Luftag initially ordered four Convair CV-340s and four Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellations, thus effectively starting its operations. Shortly after, with the organization of flights to New York, Lufthansa AG gained intercontinental status and started its rise that continues to this day.

Who is the owner of Lufthansa?

Coming to 2016, Lufthansa, headquartered in the city of Cologne, continues its services with a fleet capacity of 264 aircraft and 220 different routes.

Regarding the owner of Deutsche Lufthansa AG, which has around 120,000 employees; although the company’s public tradition still continues significantly, it has adapted to the era over time; its shares have been partially privatized. While 88.52% is owned by private investors, the remaining 11.5% slice of Lufthansa still belongs to the state.

The sub-companies purchased over time by Deutsche Lufthansa AG, where Carsten Spohr serves as the Chairman of the Executive Board and CEO, are as follows:

-Austrian Airlines -Brussels Airlines (45% shares) -Eurowings -Germanwings -Sun Express -Swiss International Airlines -Swiss Global Air Lines -Edelweiss Air -LSG Sky Chefs -Global Load Control -Aero Logic (50% shares)

Apart from these purchased companies, the subsidiaries established from scratch by the holding are as follows:

-Lufthansa Cargo -Lufthansa Regional Air Dolomiti -Lufthansa CityLine -Lufthansa Consulting -Lufthansa Flight Training -Lufthansa Industry Solutions -Lufthansa Systems -Lufthansa Technik