Today in Aviation, German flag-carrier Lufthansa launched its new Italian subsidiary in 2009.
Lufthansa Italia (LH) was unveiled in November 2008. Lufthansa had wanted to increase its presence in Northern Italy for several years. It first considered expanding its Air Dolomiti (EN) subsidiary and planned to base six of its Embraer E195s at Milan Malpensa (MXP) to launch numerous new routes.
But the parent later decided it would be best to establish a new airline, its first outside Germany.
Italian Flair
To differentiate itself from its German parent, Lufthansa Italia offered several Italian touches onboard. These included Italian-speaking Cabin and Flight Crews and locally-sourced Italian food and drink.
Nine 138-seat Airbus A319s would be sourced from mainline Lufthansa or its low-cost offspring Germanwings (4U).
Flights from MXP to Barcelona (BCN) and Paris (CDG) were flown on the first day. The airline soon added Brussels (BRU), Budapest (BUD), Bucharest (OTP), London Heathrow (LHR), Lisbon (LIS) and Madrid (MAD) to the route map. A total of 21 routes would be served.
Tough Competition
A year after taking to the skies, Lufthansa Italia had carried 800,000 passengers. Sadly, passenger numbers failed to meet expectations. Rival easyJet (U2), which also had a significant presence at MXP, quickly slashed fares and increased frequencies on 17 of the 21 routes on which the pair competed.
In May 2011, Lufthansa announced that the subsidiary would be folded back into its parent. Its final flight took place on October 29 that year.
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Cover photo credit: Maarten Visser from Capelle aan den IJssel, Nederland, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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© Jet Back In Time by Lee Cross