Lufthansa to turn around Germanwings unit

[HAMBURG] Deutsche Lufthansa, Europe's second-largest airline, said that it wants to turn around its Germanwings unit by next year after moving large parts of its network to the short-haul subsidiary.

"We are planning a break-even in 2015," chief financial officer Simone Menne said on Monday at the Hamburg club of business journalists. The airline chose to expand Germanwings rather than surrendering the routes to the likes of low-cost carriers Easyjet and Ryanair Holdings, she said.

Lufthansa is in the process of shifting large parts of its European network to Germanwings after years of losses on shorter routes outside the main Frankfurt and Munich hubs. Europe's former flag carriers have struggled to make money on short-haul, with Ryanair and Easyjet offering lower fares, coupled with a fresh focus on service that makes them more attractive.