Lufthansa revamps to fend off Gulf, low-cost airlines

Frankfurt

DEUTSCHE Lufthansa AG said it will organise its airlines into two units, one focused on premium services and the other on no-frills flights, to tackle the double threat from low-cost carriers offering cheaper tickets in Europe and competitors from the Persian Gulf outclassing it on services to Asia.

Lufthansa will group its namesake airline brand along with its Swiss and Austrian units into a so-called hub group, the Cologne, Germany-based carrier said in a statement on Wednesday. The Eurowings operations will be combined with Germanwings to form the budget group.