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Spain’s Iberia is a takeover target from Germany’s Lufthansa according to a report in the French economic daily newspaper La Tribune.

It said Lufthansa has opened discussions – but not negotiations – on possibly buying a key stake. Iberia has denied the report and Lufthansa refused to comment.

Such a tie up would create an airline carrying carry 100 million passengers annually, bigger than the current European number one – Air France-KLM with 70 million.

source: Euronews.net

Deutsche Lufthansa AG has dismissed as ”pure speculation” a report in the La Stampa daily it is considering bidding for a stake in ailing Italian carrier Alitalia SpA.”This is pure speculation,” a Lufthansa spokesman said.

The Italian government has invited interested parties to present bids for a stake of between 30.1 pct and 49.9 pct in Alitalia by Jan 29.

In early December, Lufthansa’s head of marketing and sales, Thierry Antinori, said his company was not interested in taking a stake in Alitalia because the German airline already has a presence in the Italian market.

source: Forbes

Lufthansa turned in another record year in 2006. The number of passengers and of operated flights as well as capacity and sales all ended the year at an all-time high.

In 2006, the airlines in the Lufthansa Group carried 53.4 million passengers, an increase on the year-earlier level of 4.2 per cent. Sales rose by 2.0 per cent on an increase of 1.8 per cent in capacity. The passenger load factor was up accordingly by 0.2 percentage points to 75.2 per cent.

source: boarding.no

Deutsche Lufthansa AG plans to hire 3,000 new employees this year, a spokesman for the German flagship airline said.

The total includes 1,200 flight attendants, 800 ground staff, 240 trainee pilots as well as 330 other trainees, the spokesman said. The Lufthansa group currently employs around 94,000 people.

source: hemscott.com

Lufthansa’s low-cost airline Germanwings is gearing up for further expansion after posting its first profit just four years after beginning operations, says Germanwings CEO Thomas Winkelmann.

“‘Germanwings has just had the best year in its history,'” said an ebullient Winkelmann over a lunch of wiener schnitzel at Berlin’s Cafe Einstein, a popular meeting place for movers and shakers in the German capital.

Germanwings – which began operating in 2002 – is set to make a profit this year, said Winkelmann who declined to reveal any figures.

source: Playfuls

Lufthansa would resume passenger services connecting Frankfurt and Kolkata from December 2, after 35 years with three weekly flights.

The airline would operate a 235-seater non-stop Airbus A340-300 between Frankfurt and Kolkata with a three class configuration establishing its presence across all metros with 45 weekly flights.

Its frequency could be increased with the hike in business, since the airline was permitted to operate 50 flights a week as per a new Indo-German Air Traffic Agreement.

source: rediff News

Even as Lufthansa Airlines is focused on establishing itself as the global leader in premier and business travel segment, the world’s biggest carrier ” in terms of the scheduled passengers carried ” is not ready to give up the battle with low-cost carriers for attractive short-haul routes.

“A strong brand needs growth and as the foremost part of our strategy we believe in full assortment of services,” Holger Hatty, member of the board of Lufthansa passenger airlines, said.

source: Financial Express

Deutsche Lufthansa AG intends to restructure its core commercial flight operations by the beginning of 2007, which it expects will yield savings in the mid- to long-term.

The paper said the operations, which are centrally-controlled at the moment, will be split into three divisions; Frankfurt, Munich and its 11 other German airports.

source: Forbes

Deutsche Lufthansa AG said it is looking to recruit 750 new staff over the next few months in a move to expand its fast-growing hub in Munich. The German flag carrier said this includes 500 flight attendants and 250 staff for the check-in area.

The airline’s chief executive, Wolfgang Mayrhuber, announced last year the carrier would create 2,400 new jobs in Germany in 2006. A Lufthansa spokeswoman said the 750 jobs in Munich comes on top of this.

source: Forbes

The Singapore low-cost carrier, Tiger Airways, has announced it is planning to purchase 8 new Airbus A-320 aircraft, for a total expense of USD 500m.

The airline, which is controlled for 49% by Singapore Airlines, communicated in a note that the deliveries will begin in 2008 and completed in 2010. The A-320s are single-aisle airplanes, designed to cover short and mid range routes and can host up to 200 passengers.

source: Avionews