Which Airlines Are Part of the Lufthansa Group – Complete List and Overview

Lufthansa in of itself is one of the largest airlines in the world, along with one of the largest members of the Star Alliance. However, the airline is part of a much greater group that control a substantial number of European Airlines. Here's which airlines are part of the Lufthansa Group.

The Lufthansa Group: A Multi-Brand European Airline Network

The airlines controlled by the Lufthansa Group cover the whole spectrum of service levels:

• Full Service & Legacy Airlines
• Low Cost Carriers
• Regional Airlines

The group has created synergies in operations between the airlines it controls but they all remain independent entities with their strong identity. That is particularly the case with the national carrier airlines of the Lufthansa Group.

The low cost and leisure carriers fill the gaps that the major airlines in the group simply cannot. By far the Lufthansa Group is the most complex airline venture in Europe, with so many moving parts, and possibly one of the most complex worldwide.

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Full-Service and Flag Carriers

Let's kick things off taking a look to which legacy airlines and full service carriers are part of the German owned group.

Lufthansa has been very clever and capable in spotting deals and opportunities, particularly in difficult economic situations when other more fragile airlines suffered. That is pretty much the way Lufthansa took control of all the national carriers it controls (except Lufthansa itself), which are:

• Lufthansa (Germany)
• Austrian Airlines (Austria)
• Brussels Airlines (Belgium)
• Swiss International Air Lines (Switzerland)
• ITA Airways (Italy)

Lufthansa (Germany)

Lufthansa is the main brand of the group, the largest airline and the national carrier of Germany. Its modern form was founded in 1954 and has operated standalone airline for much of the 20th century. Only in the '90s did it start eyeing expansion ambitions.

It first expanded taking a strake in what is currently called Eurowings in 1997 then later in the 2000s taking on more ambitious challenges with the acquisition of other national carriers.

Lufthansa is also a founding member of the Star Alliance, which is also home to all other major airlines in the Lufthansa Group.

SWISS International Air Lines (Switzerland)

SWISS was the first big opportunity Lufthansa took and is the moment the group started taking its current form. This is not that old an airline, Swissair was the original Helvetic flag carrier. An airline that went under due to a long list of managerial shortsighted decisions, with 9/11 being the straw that broke the camel's back.

The Swissair collapse prompted the Swiss government to step in and reboot a restructured national carrier. The government had no intention to run an airline however. That's where Lufthansa came into play taking over the airline and running it since.

SWISS was positioned on the market as a premium travel option serving the rich Swiss service and banking sectors. To this day the airline remains the only other carrier, apart from Lufthansa, to offer First Class.

Austrian Airlines (Austria)

Its founding dates back to the 1950s being government run up until the Lufthansa Group took over in 2008. The airline had never been particularly successful nor profitable. It often relied on state aid, which became an issue in the 2000s when EU regulations strongly limited state aid to favor competition in the unified market.

Lufthansa provided a way out for the Austrian government and a path to the required privatization. The airline has been a part of the group since 2009 and is also a part of the Star Alliance.

The airline plays a secondary role in the group lineup, as travel demand to Austria is not as strong as it is for Germany and Switzerland. Therefore the airline's product and fleet generally are less luxurious and less frequently updated.

Brussels Airlines (Belgium)

The story of Brussels Airlines has a lot of touching points to SWISS'. The airline came into existence when SABENA, the former national carrier, collapsed i the early 2000s.

In 2008 the Lufthansa Group took a 45% stake in the Belgian carrier and one year later acquiring the remainder of the shares from SN Airholding.

Interesting fact, Brussels Airlines IATA code which you can see on its flight numbers is SN which comes from its former ownership.

ITA Airways (Italy — Joining 2026)

ITA Airways is the latest airline to enter the Lufthansa Group. Once again the airline came under Lufthansa's control following the collapse of the Italian national carrier Alitalia. ITA Airways was then founded and run by the Italian government with a streamlined structure. However, the intention was never to keep the airline under state ownership. The search for a partner lead to Lufthansa taking a 41% initial stake in the carrier to then increase it to a majority stake.

ITA Airways is a strategic asset for the Lufthansa Group. Italy is a phenomenal driver for air travel demand, both business and leisure. Lufthansa had tried time and time again to get a stronger hold over the Italian market going as far as launching a subsidiary in the country (Lufthansa Italia).

Regional Airlines of the Lufthansa Group

Let's move on to the group's regional airlines. These are feeder airlines that will operate short haul flights on lower demand or domestic flights towards the LH main hubs of Frankfurt and Munich.

• Lufthansa CityLine (Germania)
• Air Dolomiti (Italia)

Lufthansa CityLine (Germany)

Lufthansa CityLine mainly operates short range route with many of them within Germany. It serves secondary or low demand routes airports with a fleet of smaller jets, often CRJs.

It is a feeder operation for long haul operation departing its primary hubs of Munich and Frankfurt.

Air Dolomiti (Italy)

Air Dolomiti on the other hand is a subsidiary based in the Italian city of Verona in northern Italy. Its key operations are flights from Italy to Lufthansa's hubs.

However, some uncertainty now glooms over this carrier following the ITA Airways acquisition. The larger scale of operations of the national carrier can cope much better with the Lufthansa group needs than a small regional subsidiary.

I wouldn't be at all surprised to see Air Dolomiti eventually be absorbed into ITA Airways.

Low-Cost and Leisure Airlines

Now to wrap things up with the budget and leisure airlines of the Lufthansa Group:

• Eurowings
• Edelweiss
• Discover Airlines (formerly Eurowings Discover)

Eurowings

Eurowings is the only low-cost carrier in the Lufthansa Group. The airline operates flights across Europe while maintaining a focus on serving German clients.

The airline was established in 1993 and evolved into a full on low-cost carrier absorbing in 2015 all Germanwings assets and operations. The airline operates an all A320 family fleet in typical low-cost fashion.

Edelweiss and Discover Airlines

Last in the list come the Lufthansa Group two leisure airlines. Edelweiss and Discover Airlines serve the same market segment respectively in Switzerland and Germany. That is to serve leisure customers on flights to popular tourist destinations also as part of holiday packages. They both also fly long haul having wide body aircraft in each of their fleets.

Shared Frequent Flyer Program: Miles & More

All the airlines of the group share their frequent flyer program. All of them use the Lufthansa Miles & More system. This means that flying on any of these carriers you'll build up Lufthansa frequent flyer miles and you'll be able claim award flights on any of them too.