Deutsche Lufthansa AG concluded the sale of the remaining part of the LSG Group on 31 October 2023. With the sale transaction now completed, ownership of the LSG Group has passed from the Lufthansa Group to the Aurelius Group private equity company, as contractually agreed in early April of this year. The LSG Group’s European business activities were previously sold to gategroup in 2019.

“I would like to offer my thanks, on behalf of the entire Lufthansa Group, to everyone at the LSG Group,” says Remco Steenbergen, Chief Financial Officer of Deutsche Lufthansa AG. “They have been a vital element in our Group’s success story over the past few decades. That the Lufthansa Group is now number one in Europe is thanks in no small part to our LSG Group colleagues, their passion and their always outstanding work. In the Aurelius Group they now have a new owner who can provide new input and ideas, and who will continue to invest in the catering business segment. And I am particularly delighted that, as our partner for our on-board product and our service concepts, the LSG Group will continue to play a vital role for the guests of our Group’s member airlines.”

The sale of its catering arm is part of the Lufthansa Group’s broader strategy to focus even more firmly on its core air transport business and thereby further enhance the profitability of its member airlines. “Following the agreements earlier this year on the sale of AirPlus and on our acquisition of an equity holding in ITA, this closing on the sale of the LSG Group is further confirmation that we are consistently pursuing our strategy and, in doing so, are driving our Group’s transformation,” Steenbergen concludes.

The sale of the LSG Group comprises all the group’s classic catering activities along with its on-board retail and food commerce businesses. The sale further extends to all the brands of the LSG Group including the 131 LSG Sky Chefs catering operations in the Americas (the USA and Latin America), Asia-Pacific and Emerging Markets regions. Dublin-based on-board retail specialist Retail InMotion (RiM) and SCIS Air Security Services in the USA are also included. The LSG Group has a total workforce of some 20,000 personnel, and operates 36 joint ventures worldwide.

The Lufthansa Group and the pilots’ union Vereinigung Cockpit have agreed to a long-term wage agreement for the pilots of Lufthansa German Airlines and Lufthansa Cargo. On 10 August 2023, the members of the union voted in favour of the negotiated outcome, which had been reached shortly beforehand.

The new wage agreement can be terminated at the earliest on 31 December 2026 and includes a basic salary in-crease of at least 18% over the term of the agreement. The framework agreement, which includes improved working conditions for pilots, can be terminated at the earliest on 31 December 2027.

The agreements still require completion of the legal drafting process and the approval of the responsible committees.

“This collective agreement with Vereinigung Cockpit will provide additional stability in our operations and thus also more reliability for our customers,” says Lufthansa Group Executive Board Member and Labor Director Michael Niggemann. “With it we are improving not only our pilots’ remuneration, but also their ability to maintain an effective balance between their profession and their private lives. This new agreement is not easy for us to conclude from an economic perspective,” Niggemann continues. “But its long-term nature provides Lufthansa German Airlines with a sound planning foundation for the years ahead, particularly for its intended long-haul growth. The fact that the new agreement was found amicably around the negotiating table strengthens our social partnership, too.”

Lufthansa Group's newly established City Airlines will start flight operations in the summer of 2024. The airline was founded last year and received its Air Operator Certificate (AOC) from the German Federal Aviation Authority back in June. It will operate its flights from the Munich and Frankfurt hubs and thus also offer feeder flights for Lufthansa German Airlines. City Airlines will operate alongside Lufthansa CityLine. Recruitment of operational staff will begin in November 2023, with pilots and cabin crew members needed for the launch.

The competitive strengthening of the short-haul network is essential for the market position of Lufthansa Group and for the planned growth of the long-haul segment in the German market.

Lufthansa customers and passengers can look forward to a Lufthansa customer experience on board City Airlines aircraft. While City Airlines will start operations with Airbus A319 aircraft, Lufthansa Group is currently also evaluating the possibility of using Airbus A220 or Embraer aircraft.

Lufthansa German Airlines guests will experience a new cabin interior on short- and medium-haul routes starting in spring 2025. The company will successively equip 38 Airbus A320s already flying for Lufthansa German Airlines with the new innovative cabin.

The new cabin offers significantly more comfort and premium:

• More space for carry-on luggage: Large overhead bins can hold up to twice as many carry-on suitcases or bags as the items of luggage can now be stowed vertically in the 40% larger compartments.
• USB port: Lufthansa German Airlines installs a dedicated USB port in each seat, which can be used to charge mobile devices.
• Tablet/smartphone holder: For the first time, Lufthansa German Airlines is equipping all seats with a special holder for tablets and smartphones. Guests can thus watch movies and series much more comfortably on their own devices without having to hold the devices in their hands or put them down on the folding table.
• More legroom: The new seats also offer more legroom with the same seat spacing thanks to the ergonomic shaping of the backrests.

Representatives of Lufthansa German Airlines, the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR), Airbus, Flughafen München GmbH and MTU Aero Engines signed a Letter of Intent  in Berlin for a broad-based research collaboration on Power-to-Liquid (PtL) aviation fuels. PtL is considered the next generation of Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF). SAF are a crucial technological key for more sustainable flying and essential for the energy transition in aviation. The planned cooperation will combine the forces of leading aviation companies and academia to accelerate the technology selection, market introduction and industrial scaling of PtL aviation fuels in Germany.

Questions along the entire value chain, such as maintenance requirements or the benefits for local air quality, could also be addressed in the technology cooperation. Furthermore, the use of pure PtL, which means without the addition of fossil kerosene, could be tested in order to gain knowledge for the approval process.

In addition, the cooperation partners intend to examine the extent to which PtL fuels have the potential not only to save large quantities of CO₂, but also to positively influence the so-called non-CO₂ emissions.

"Research collaborations like this are essential for developing pioneering solutions for the climate-friendly transformation of air traffic. As Germany's largest airline, we are firmly committed to step by step making flying more sustainable. I am convinced that we will succeed with the combined know-how from aviation and science and that we will also strengthen Germany as a business location," says Jens Ritter, CEO of Lufthansa Airlines.

SAF are produced without the use of fossil feedstocks such as crude oil and also meet other sustainability criteria. The range of possible raw materials and technologies for the production of SAF is wide. In addition to SAF from biogenic residues, which are currently available in small quantities, the PtL-process appears particularly promising from an environmental and scaling perspective. In this next generation of SAF, regeneratively generated electricity, water and CO₂ from the atmosphere are used to create a syngas from which sustainable aviation fuel can be produced.