n 1997, Eurowings set up a low-cost department, which became a separate company under the name Germanwings on 27 October 2002. On 7 December 2005, the airline signed an agreement to purchase 18 Airbus A319 aircraft (with a further 12 options), with deliveries scheduled from July 2006 until 2008.[3]
During winter 2004–2005 Germanwings leased two Boeing 717s from Aerolíneas de Baleares to test the aircraft type, but no order was made afterwards.
In 2008 initial plans were made to merge Germanwings, Eurowings and TUIfly into one airline to compete with Air Berlin/LTU in the German market and with EasyJet and Ryanair on international routes, but these plans were never realized. Instead, Germanwings became a wholly owned Lufthansa subsidiary on 1 January 2009.[4]
Development since 2012[edit]
In 2012 Lufthansa announced that it plans to transfer point-to-point shorthaul flights operating from cities other than Frankfurt and Munich from Lufthansa to Germanwings.[5][6] Therefore the company received a revised corporate design. The transfer of Lufthansa's shorthaul routes takes place between spring 2013 and autumn 2014 with Düsseldorf Airport being the last base to be transferred from March 2014.
As part of the 2013 restructuring and relaunch of Germanwings, alongside the 33 aircraft currently operated, around 30 Lufthansa aircraft will be transferred to Germanwings.[7] Additionally, the 23 aircraft currently operated by Eurowings covering Lufthansa flights not flying out of the Frankfurt and Munich hubs will also be incorporated into Germanwings. Overall, ‘new Germanwings’ will eventually operate around 90 aircraft.
The airline has had a long-standing dispute with the Vereinigung Cockpit union which has demanded a scheme in which pilots can retire at the age of 55 and retain 60% of their pay, which parent Lufthansa insists is no longer affordable. Germanwings pilots staged a nationwide strike in support of their demands in April 2014 which lasted 3 days. The pilots staged another 6 hours strike at the end of the Summer holidays in September 2014. Simultaneous strikes were staged by Lufthansa pilots.[8]
By the end of 2014 all of Lufthansa's national routes and international traffic to and from Germany - except all flights to and from Frankfurt and Munich and both Lufthansa long-haul routes from Düsseldorf (to Newark and Chicago)[9] - has been taken over by Germanwings.[10] The last route that was handed over from Lufthansa to Germanwings was Düsseldorf-Zurich on 8 January 2015.[9][11]
However, the Lufthansa Group announced in January 2015 that the Germanwings brand will be removed from public appearance and integrated into the rebranded Eurowings by autumn 2015. Germanwings will remain as an airline operating on behalf of Eurowings from then on.[12]