Lufthansa’s distinctive yellow will disappear from the outside of its planes in favor of a dark blue-and-white scheme. The airline says that newer, darker blue will become its “leading brand color,” though yellow is not going away completely. Lufthansa says it will still be found “on every boarding pass and at every Lufthansa counter at the airport, among other things.”
“Lufthansa has changed and is more modern and successful than ever. From now on, this will also be visible to the public through a new design”, said Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr of the company’s first livery change in 30 years. “The crane has always been with us and clearly stands for the promising performance from Lufthansa.”
“Every detail of the design was reworked — to meet the requirements of the digital age,” Lufthansa said in a statement. The last time the livery was changed (very slightly) was 30 years ago, so Lufthansa executives thought it was time to modernize.
Some 40 Lufthansa aircraft will receive the new paintwork this year, as part of a seven-year programme to introduce the scheme across its entire fleet.
At the press conference, Spohr was asked whether Lufthansa is interested in buying Alitalia, the Italian flag carrier, in its current form. Spohr said he’s not, and only if it was restructured would the Lufthansa Group consider purchasing the bankrupt airline. Lufthansa also recently started incorporating parts of Air Berlin’s now defunct fleet into its own. Spohr said he thinks they’ll get another 35 Air Berlin aircraft on top of the 35 they are currently wet-leasing, with the crews included.
Lufthansa is also focused on growing its low-cost carrier Eurowings significantly in the upcoming years, increasing its fleet up to 200 aircraft.
