Category Airline, Organisations & Operators

On April 6, 1926, the first flights of the first “Luft Hansa” took off from Berlin. On Easter Monday, April 6, 2026 – exactly 100 years later – this special anniversary will be celebrated in multiple ways.

On Monday morning, two long-haul aircraft will take off from Lufthansa’s hubs in Frankfurt and Munich bound for the capital. A Boeing 787-9 will depart from Hesse, and an Airbus A350-900 from Bavaria. On board: more than 400 passengers, consisting of Lufthansa Group employees and their partners, who have been invited by the company. Also on board the flights: influencers and journalists. Both aircraft feature the special blue livery with a white XXL crane to mark Lufthansa’s 100th anniversary.

The airlines of the Lufthansa Group are expanding their flight offerings for summer 2026, responding specifically to the short-term shift and increase in demand in tourist and business air travel. This summer, Lufthansa therefore plans to offer two additional weekly flights from Frankfurt to Chennai, India, two weekly flights to Delhi, one additional flight to Hyderabad, and one additional weekly flight from Munich to Bangalore. Swiss has already added seven weekly flights to Delhi to its schedule.

In addition, Lufthansa is planning to offer around 540 additional flights in Europe from its hubs in Frankfurt and Munich for the period between April and October 2026, serving both high-demand tourist destinations in Southern Europe as well as selected destinations in the far North. Among other things, capacity to the Iberian Peninsula, Greece, and Italy will be significantly expanded.

Star Alliance officially welcomed ITA Airways as its newest member, marking the completion of the Italian carrier’s integration into the world’s largest airline alliance.

ITA Airways marked its entry into the Alliance during a ceremony held at the Piazza di Spagna Lounge, Rome Fiumicino Airport Terminal 3. The ceremony was presided over by ITA Airways Chief Executive Officer and General Manager Joerg Eberhart, Star Alliance Chief Executive Officer Theo Panagiotoulias, and Lufthansa Group Chief Commercial Officer Dieter Vranckx, in the presence of media and institutional guests.

United today announced a new tiered fare structure that will make it easier for customers to find the flight experience that best matches their preferences.

United to introduce tiered fare categories, giving customers more options across every type of ticket.

The airline will offer three fare options in premium cabins for long-haul international, transcontinental U.S. and select Hawaii flights: base – a new option, standard and flexible, that will join the airline’s existing basic, standard and flexible fares in economy.

Saudia, the national flag carrier of Saudi Arabia, has introduced Google’s Find Hub share item location feature to support the recovery of lost or delayed baggage, offering guests an additional, optional way to assist the airline’s teams during the baggage tracking process.

Through this feature, guests using a compatible tracker tag or Bluetooth accessory can generate a secure, temporary link and share the location of their baggage directly with Saudia when reporting a delayed or missing bag by attaching the shared link to the guest’s baggage claim record. The shared link provides time-limited access to location information, helping ground teams identify and recover baggage more efficiently. Location sharing can be stopped at any time by the guest and expires automatically after seven days.

Alaska Airlines today announced the debut of its all-new International Business Class, a premium long-haul experience launching this spring as the airline expands to Europe and Asia. The unveiling marks a significant milestone in Alaska’s transformation into the West Coast’s global carrier and Seattle’s new leader in international travel — one that now connects guests to over 900 worldwide destinations through the oneworld alliance.

Aviation Capital Group LLC (ACG), a premier global full-service aircraft asset manager, today announced the delivery of the first Boeing 737-8 MAX aircraft to Compagnie Nationale Royal Air Maroc (Royal Air Maroc).

The new aircraft, equipped with CFM LEAP-1B engines, is the first ACG 737-8 MAX to be placed on lease with Royal Air Maroc as part of a six-aircraft transaction, with the remaining five scheduled for delivery through 2026 from its orderbook.

gategroup, the leading global player in airline catering and hospitality, and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines have reached an agreement for gategroup to acquire a majority stake in KLM Catering Services (KCS). This landmark transaction establishes a long-term strategic partnership designed to redefine the future of inflight catering for KLM airlines at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.

JFK Millennium Partners (JMP), the company selected by the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey to build and operate John F. Kennedy International Airport’s new world-class Terminal 6 (T6), and TAP Air Portugal, (TAP) the national carrier of Portugal, today announced that TAP will make T6 its future home at JFK airport, joining codeshare partner JetBlue and Star Alliance airlines such as Air Canada, ANA, Avianca, Lufthansa and SWISS in the state-of-the-art terminal as part of its phase one opening in 2026.

Maldivian, the national airline of the Maldives, proudly marked 18 years of operations to India with a special commemorative event celebrating the airline’s longstanding presence in one of its most strategically important markets.

For nearly two decades, India operations have remained a key pillar of Maldivian’s regional connectivity and growth. Maldivian currently flies 5 times every week to both Thiruvananthapuram and Cochin. Over the past eighteen years, these routes have played an important role in strengthening access to essential markets and enhancing connectivity between the Maldives and major Indian cities. The network has also supported tourism, trade, education, and medical travel, further reinforcing the close ties between the two neighboring countries.