Lufthansa Looks East And South For New Routes

Lufthansa has continued to look to diversify its revenue income, exploring potential destinations in Asia, Africa, and South America to avoid being over-reliant on a single intercontinental market, namely North America. Diversification As reported by Germany-based aero , Jens Ritter, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Lufthansa, the airline, told employees during a meeting on March 10 that the carrier’s management is looking for opportunities to diversify its revenue portfolio, which includes potential new destinations in Asia, Africa, and South America. According to Ritter, while North America is the biggest revenue stream for Lufthansa’s intercontinental network, the aero report added that the goal is to reduce reliance on the continent.

Lufthansa Group’s 2024 report disclosed that in 2024, out of the €27.8 billion ($30.3 billion) revenue the group’s passenger airlines earned during the year, Europe, the Americas, and Asia/Pacific were the only regions with year-on-year growth.



“The Lufthansa Group is continuing to expand its offering in Asian growth markets, too.” Lufthansa Group revenue by region in 2024 YoY Change Europe €11.7 billion ($12.

7 billion) 8 % Americas €7.7 billion ($8.4 billion) 7 % Asia/Pacific €3.

5 billion ($3.8 billion) 6 % Middle East/Africa €2.2 billion ($2.

4 billion) -6 % Not assignable €2.5 billion ($2.7 billion) -9 % However, Lufthansa, the airline, continued to struggle in 2024.

Known goals While unsurprising, considering current economic and geopolitical uncertainties, the move has been in the works for some time now, with Lufthansa and Lufthansa Group’s chief executives eyeing more flights to specific destinations in Asia, Africa, and South America. In part, the acquisition of an initial 41% stake in ITA Airways should help the group expand its portfolio in these regions, with the Italian airline scheduling 46 weekly flights to points in Asia and South America in June, according to data from the aviation analytics company Cirium’s Diio Mi airline planning tool. Lufthansa Group has also previously said that ITA Airways’ central hub at Rome Leonardo da Vinci Fiumicino Airport (FCO) was ideally positioned to diversify the group’s network towards Africa and Latin America.

Further examples of Lufthansa’s ambitions in Asia, for example, were also indirectly outlined when it first introduced the new Allegris first class suites on flights to Indian cities, namely Bengaluru Kempegowda International Airport (BLR) and Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (BOM), in 2024. ITA Airways is planning to serve up to six destinations in the US during the upcoming summer season. Eyeing further acquisitions However, Lufthansa Group is looking to acquire a stake in another airline that could expand its intercontinental network, with the Germany-based company eyeing investing in Air Europa.

The airline, lauded for its South American network, was the target of the International Airlines Group (IAG), which owns another airline based at Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport (MAD), Iberia. However, following the objections and remedy requests from the European Commission (EC), IAG dropped its attempt to acquire the remaining 80% of the airline’s shares from Globalia, its parent company. Now, Air Europa has been in the crosshairs of Air France-KLM, which, according to a report by Spain-based El Confidencial , offered €300 million ($327.

4 million) for a 51% stake in Air Europa, and Lufthansa Group, which put forth a proposal of a €240 million ($261.9 million) capital increase for 25% of the Spanish carrier’s shares. In its policy briefing newsletter in February, Lufthansa Group concluded that consolidation in Europe must continue since the continent’s airlines need to be “a certain size to survive in international competition in the long term – especially against competitors from the Middle East, Asia, and the USA.

” Lufthansa pointed out that Condor announced several intra-European routes on January 17, which negates its claim that there are no alternatives..