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| Founded | 1 February 1990; 35 years ago (1990-02-01) | ||||||
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| Commenced operations | 1 January 1994; 31 years ago (1994-01-01) | ||||||
| Operating bases | |||||||
| Frequent-flyer program | Miles & More | ||||||
| Subsidiaries | Eurowings Europe | ||||||
| Fleet size | 72 (excludingEurowings Europe) | ||||||
| Destinations | 152[1] | ||||||
| Parent company | Lufthansa Group | ||||||
| Headquarters | Düsseldorf,North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany[2] | ||||||
| Key people | |||||||
| Website | www | ||||||
Eurowings GmbH is a Germanlow-cost carrier[3] headquartered inDüsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia,[2][4] and a wholly owned subsidiary of theLufthansa Group. Founded in 1996, it serves a network of domestic and European destinations and maintains bases at several airports throughout Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic. As of 2024, it is the largest low-cost-carrier in the German market.[3]
Eurowings has gone through a major transformation since it was part ofLufthansa Regional until October 2014. At that time, it began operating on behalf ofGermanwings within their network. Since spring 2015, Eurowings has been redeveloped into a value carrier for short- and long-haul flights. By October 2015, it had also started to incorporate Germanwings' route network as part of the merger of the two brands.[5]
Eurowings operates from bases in Germany, and itsMaltese subsidiaryEurowings Europe operates from bases in other European countries. All flights operated by both carriers are scheduled, marketed and sold by Eurowings.
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The airline was formed on 1 February 1990, following a merger ofNürnberger Flugdienst (NFD) andReise- und Industrieflug (RFG), two commuter airlines based inNürnberg andDortmund, respectively. Flight operations using an initial fleet ofATR 42 and72 aircraft inherited from Eurowings' predecessors were launched on 1 January 1994. Subsequently,BAe 146 aircraft were added to the fleet, which were later followed by largerAirbus A320 family aircraft and even anAirbus A310.[citation needed] Lufthansa took an initial 24.9% stake in Eurowings in 2001, increasing it to 49% in 2004. It has exercised full control of the airline since 2005, and it assumed complete ownership in 2011.
As of 31 December 2006, Lufthansa had a 49% shareholding in Eurowings with a call option for 50.91% of the remaining stakes, bringing the company into theLufthansa Group fold.[6] At that time, Eurowings was the owner ofGermanwings, thus creating alow-cost branch within the Lufthansa trust. Plans to merge these two airlines withTUIfly (controlled byTUI Travel) into a joint and independent holding company, were brought forth during 2008, but did not materialize.[7] Instead, Lufthansa announced in December 2008 to acquire Germanwings from Eurowings.[8]
In September 2010 Eurowings closed its headquarters and technical infrastructure in Dortmund, Germany, and moved both to Düsseldorf, where Eurowings operated most of its flights since the airline was part of Lufthansa Regional. In March 2011, the maintenance division at Nürnberg Airport was also closed.
In late 2013, Eurowings' short-haul flights that are not operated from Frankfurt or Munich were transferred from Lufthansa to Germanwings.[9] All Eurowings flights operated on behalf of Lufthansa Regional ceased by autumn 2014 and were rebranded to Germanwings, the last ones to and from Düsseldorf.
In July 2014, the Lufthansa Group announced that Eurowings would replace its 23 Bombardier CRJ900 aircraft with 23Airbus A320s. Ten of the A320s would be new orders, and 13 would be transferred from Lufthansa Group orders between February 2015 and March 2017. Lufthansa also announced Eurowings' transformation from a regional airline into a low-cost long and short-haul carrier by the end of 2015.[10]
On 1 February 2015, Eurowings started operating theAirbus A320-200, after taking delivery of its first on 20 January, which was received from Lufthansa and repainted in Eurowings' new livery. This and further A320s would be operated on behalf ofGermanwings for most of 2015, until Lufthansa consolidated its low-cost operations under the new Eurowings brand by end of that year.[5] Additionally, in February 2015, the Lufthansa Group announced thatSunExpress Deutschland would be the operator of Eurowings' new long-haul operations, which were to be based atCologne Bonn Airport from November 2015. SunExpress Deutschland therefore would receive leasedAirbus A330-200s.[11]
Eurowings also announced the establishment of its first base outside of Germany, atVienna International Airport, where the aircraft were planned be operated byAustrian Airlines under the Eurowings brand. Previous plans to establish the first foreign base at Basel/Mulhouse were cancelled.[12] In June 2015, the Lufthansa Group announced the application for an additionalair operator's certificate (AOC) for Eurowings in Austria, calledEurowings Europe, under which all newAirbus A320-200s would be operated while the "current" GermanEurowings would continue to operate the existing fleet. This was planned due to lower operational costs based onAustrian Airlines union agreements.[13]
On 2 October 2015, Lufthansa announced a change of plans for their Vienna operations. Austrian Airlines would not operate some routes for the Eurowings brand as planned; instead, Eurowings Europe would handle all these flights itself.[14] In October 2015, Eurowings took over 55Germanwings routes.[15] By April 2016, Eurowings had taken over several more routes.[16] Eurowings has been solely responsible for all sales under the Germanwings brand since October 2015.[17] From November 2015, Eurowings were offering one-way fares to destinations in the Caribbean and Thailand for as little as 99 euros.[18] In December 2015, Eurowings' new long-haul operations faced severe criticism, as every fourth flight was delayed by an average of 5.8 hours, with some flights delayed more than 20 hours.[19] Lufthansa stated that unexpected technical difficulties and a small fleet were to blame; Eurowings started its first seven long-haul routes with only one own aircraft.[19] Shortly after, Eurowings again faced severe public outrage and negative media coverage,[20] after one of their flights fromVaradero to Cologne was delayed by more than 60 hours with passengers with visas whose validity had run out stuck in their hotels.[21]
In January 2016, Eurowings cancelled their planned service from Cologne toTehran,[22] and reducedDubai flights from year-round to seasonal service.[23] Lufthansa also announced the establishment of atask force in the same month. Its brief would be to eliminate the operational problems which lead to serious delays and to increase operational reliability.[24] In July 2016, it was made public that Eurowings' ownerLufthansa was considering taking over part of the route network, staff and aircraft leases fromAir Berlin, which would then be made part of the Eurowings operations.[25] In August 2016, Eurowings announced further changes to its long-haul operations. The routes toBoston and toDubai, which had already been changed from year-round to seasonal, were terminated.[26] Boston was only served for three months.[27] Shortly after, Eurowings also announced it would terminate its last route toMoscow, and thereforeRussia, due to low demand.[28] Also in August 2016, Eurowings announced it would open its secondAustrian base after Vienna, atSalzburg Airport, with flights to six European metropolitan destinations from January 2017.[29] In December 2016, it was announced that Air Berlin would wet-lease a total of 38 Airbus A319/A320 aircraft for six years to Lufthansa Group's Eurowings (33 aircraft) and Austrian Airlines (five), starting from February 2017. As a result, Eurowings will phase out Germanwings' older A320s.[30]
On 15 February 2017, Eurowings retired their lastBombardier CRJ900 after a flight fromKarlsruhe toHamburg. All CRJ900s have been handed over toLufthansa CityLine and replaced by largerAirbus A320-200s, as part of the transformation from a regional into a low-cost carrier.[31]
In February 2018, Eurowings announced the relocation of all its long-haul routes currently operated fromCologne Bonn Airport toDüsseldorf Airport, from which it already flies long-haul routes, by late October 2018 to strengthen their presence there. This leaves Düsseldorf andMunich Airport as Eurowings' long-haul bases.[32]
In March 2019, the Lufthansa Group announced that starting in October 2019, Eurowings would introduce long-haul flights fromFrankfurt Airport and further itsMunich hub to expandLufthansa's tourist-oriented presence and cooperation with these two hubs. It was announced that the original routes serviced from Frankfurt would be Mauritius, Barbados, and Windhoek, and Bangkok from Munich.[33] However, in June 2019, the Lufthansa Group announced that Eurowings will drop all long-haul flights and instead focus on short-haul operations aboard Airbus A320-family aircraft. All long-haul flights operated by Eurowings will be transferred to other network airlines-Lufthansa,Brussels Airlines,Austrian Airlines, andSwiss. It was also announced that Brussels Airlines will work more closely with its network partners under a turnaround plan introduced by Lufthansa.[citation needed]
In April 2020, Lufthansa announced a major downsizing for Eurowings in the wake of theCOVID-19 pandemic. While Germanwings has been shut entirely and Eurowings is to phase out several aircraft, mostwet-lease contracts have been ended on short notice.[34] Amongst the terminated agreements was the largest one withGerman Airways (formerly LGW) for their entireBombardier DHC-8-400 fleet.[35]
In February 2021,Lufthansa announced it would take over most of Eurowings' routes atMunich Airport with the exception of few domestic services and flights toPalma de Mallorca andPristina.[36] Also in early 2021, Eurowings discontinued all of their long-haul destinations, which had been served from Düsseldorf, Munich and Frankfurt.[37] At the same time, parent Lufthansa announced that these routes would be spun off as new long-haul carrierEurowings Discover.[38] Also in 2021, Eurowings announced it would add yet another base, this time toPrague, Czech Republic.[39]
In May 2022, Eurowings announced the termination of its own long-runningfrequent flyer programBoomerang Club in favor of a merger withMiles & More of parent Lufthansa.[40]
In December 2024, Eurowings announced significant route cuts to its Hamburg and Dortmund bases, citing high operational costs on the German market.[41]
On January 15, 2025, Eurowings announced six new routes namely direct flight fromDusseldorf toPonta Delgada, new destinations fromHanover toBastia,Lisbon andErbil, as well as addition of routes betweenDublin-Stuttgart andPorto-Cologne/Bonn.[42]
On January 20, 2025, Eurowings announced the largest fleet modernization program in its history, with 40 Boeing737 MAX 8 allocated from its parentLufthansa Group from the Group’s previous order. The first 737 MAX 8 will be arriving in 2027 and expect to deliver all of the 40 airframes by 2032, they will gradually replace the currentAirbus A319-100 fleet and the olderAirbus A320-200 fleet. With a capacity of 189 seats, it offers 39 additional seating capacity compared to theAirbus A319.[43] The allocation of which AOC will receive the 737 MAX 8 has not yet been confirmed.
The Eurowings Group, which consists of low-cost or hybrid point-to-point airlines,[44] is wholly owned byLufthansa, and includes as subsidiaries:[45]
Integration ofBrussels Airlines within Eurowings was stopped during 2019; it will instead move closer to Lufthansa Network Airlines and report as part of that operating segment from 2020.[45]
The business and operating results of the Eurowings Group are fully incorporated into the Lufthansa Group accounts; key trends since 2015, when it moved towards the low cost model, are (as at year ending 31 December):[46]
| Turnover (€ m) | Operating profit "EBIT" (€ m) | Number of employees[a] | Number of passengers (m) | Passenger load factor (%) | Number of aircraft[a] | Notes/ references | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 1,909 | 38 | 3,186 | 16.9 | 79.5 | [47] | |
| 2016 | 2,060 | −91 | 3,493 | 18.4 | 79.6 | 78 | [47] |
| 2017 | 4,041 | −33 | 7,501 | 32.6 | 79.9 | 180 | [48] |
| 2018 | 4,098 | −231 | 9,255 | 38.5 | 81.3 | 205 | [48] |
| 2019 | 2,311 | −126 | 8,809 | 38.2 | 82.2 | 191 | [45] |
| 2020 | 598 | −802 | 3,088 | 7.2 | 73.1 | 85 | [49] |
| 2021 | 822 | −227 | 3,563 | 7.7 | 73.6 | 100 | [50] |
| 2022 | 1,857 | −200 | 4,415 | 16.9 | 80.8 | 96 | [51] |
| 2023 | 2,592 | 241 | 4,793 | 20.7 | 84.1 | 100 | [52] |
| 2024 | 2,872 | 261 | 5,301 | 22.79 | 84.8 | 100 | [53] |
Eurowings hascodeshare agreements with the following airlines:[54]
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As of August 2025[update], Eurowings (excludingEurowings Europe which maintains its ownAOC) operates the following aircraft:[62]
| Aircraft | In service | Orders | Passengers | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B | E+ | E | Total | ||||
| Airbus A319-100 | 26 | — | 12 | 42 | 90 | 144[63] | To be replaced by Boeing 737 MAX 8. |
| 96 | 150[63] | ||||||
| Airbus A320-200 | 28 | — | 12 | 50 | 108 | 170[63] | |
| Airbus A320neo | 7 | — | — | — | 180 | 180[63] | |
| Airbus A321-200 | 6 | — | — | — | 226 | 226[63] | |
| Airbus A321neo | 5 | — | — | — | 232 | 232[63] | |
| Boeing 737 MAX 8 | — | 40 | — | — | 189 | 189 | Ordered fromparent company. Deliveries between 2027 and 2032 and replaceAirbus A319 and olderAirbus A320-200.[43] |
| Total | 72 | 40 | |||||
Over the years, Eurowings has operated the following aircraft types:[citation needed]
| Aircraft | Number | Introduced | Retired | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airbus A310 | 1 | 1994 | 1995 | |
| Airbus A330-200 | 7 | 2015 | 2019 | Operated by now-defunctSunExpress Deutschland, relocated toDiscover Airlines. |
| Airbus A330-300 | 4 | 2015 | 2020 | Operated byBrussels Airlines, relocated toDiscover Airlines. |
| Airbus A340-300 | 2 | 2018 | 2019 | Operated byBrussels Airlines, transferred back toLufthansa. |
| ATR 42 | 29 | 1994 | 2005 | |
| ATR 72 | 16 | 1994 | 2006 | |
| British Aerospace BAe 146 | 18 | 1994 | 2010 | |
| Boeing 737-300 | 2 | 2001 | 2003 | |
| Boeing 737-800 | 2 | 2016 | 2017 | Operated by now-defunctSunExpress Deutschland. |
| 8 | 2017 | 2020 | Operated byTUI fly Deutschland. | |
| Boeing 767-300ER | 1 | 2017 | 2018 | |
| 1 | Operated byPrivatAir. | |||
| Bombardier CRJ100 | 4 | 2001 | 2004 | |
| Bombardier CRJ200 | 19 | 2001 | 2011 | |
| Bombardier CRJ700 | 2 | 2007 | 2011 | Transferred toLufthansa CityLine. |
| Bombardier CRJ900 | 23 | 2009 | 2017[31] | |
| De Havilland Dash 8 Q400 | 19 | 2018 | 2020 | Operated byGerman Airways. |
| Dornier 328[citation needed] | 1 | 1997 | 1998 |
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