Lufthansa is launching its new “Lufthansa Italia” brand in Italy today (November 27th). The new airline blends traditional Lufthansa values, notably reliability and high quality, with Italian flair. With an initial fleet of six aircraft, Lufthansa will be offering the best of connections from northern Italy to major European destinations from February 2009. Lufthansa is to found its own Italian airline under the new brand early next year and apply for an Italian Air Operator Certificate (AOC).
Flights to the first two destinations, Barcelona und Paris (Charles de Gaulle), will be operated from 2 February 2009. Flights to Brussels, Budapest, Bucharest and Madrid will be added to the timetable four weeks later. London (Heathrow) and Lisbon will be brought into the network with the start of the 2009 summer flight schedules at the end of March. The new services will provide Lufthansa customers with fast, non-stop connections.