Issue Summary

It is still, by total company revenues, the largest airline group in the world—even if now (following the American-US Airways merger) by “only” a billion dollars or so annually. And because a majority of the Lufthansa Group’s business comes from longhaul flying, in many ways it remains more globally influential than even the now-giant U.S. carriers who, despite their impressive heft and profits and ever-expanding global focus, remain more shorthaul-oriented than Lufthansa, whose CEO Christoph Franz spoke with Airline Weekly.