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BERLIN (Reuters) -Germany's Lufthansa said on Wednesday it suspended flights to and from Tehran from April 6 until probably April 11, "due to the current situation in the Middle East". Countries in the region and the United States have been on high alert and preparing for a possible attack by Iran in response to a suspected bombing by Israeli warplanes of the Iranian consulate in Syria on April 1. "We are constantly monitoring the situation in the Middle East and are in close contact with the authorities. The safety of our guests and crew members is Lufthansa's top priority," a...

Passengers on a Lufthansa flight from hell that dropped almost 4,000 feet in severe turbulence were asked to delete their photos and videos of the terrifying event, according to a report. Before the March 1 flight made an emergency landing at Washington, DC’s Dulles Airport, a flight attendant twice made an announcement to get rid of any images, passenger Rolanda Schmidt told Insider. “I think we were all just like, ‘What?!'” Schmidt said. The second announcement implied that the request was to protect passenger privacy, she said. Another passenger confirmed to Insider that they were asked to delete photos. But...

A group-wide IT system failure at Lufthansa (LHAG.DE) stranded thousands of passengers on Wednesday, which the German airline blamed on underground engineering works at a railway station in Frankfurt cutting several fibre optic cables. Repairs would take until Wednesday afternoon according to Lufthansa, citing information it had received from Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE) . It expects flight operations to stabilise by early evening. Photos and videos from several German airports showed thousands of passengers waiting to be checked in.

In the future, Lufthansa will eliminate the greeting „Dear Ladies and Gentlemen“ and the English equivalent „Ladies and Gentlemen. The new greeting is intended to be more gender-appropriate. Who now almost fell off the chair and loudly „Gender Delusion“ or „How many more asterisks do you need?“, he/she can calm down again: The crew needs neither asterisks nor fancy vocabulary. According to a Lufthansa spokesperson, passengers will be greeted in the future with something like „Dear guests,“ „Good morning/lunch/evening“ or a simple „Welcome aboard. The cabin manager will decide which form of address is appropriate at the moment. Already in...

When Lufthansa, Germany's flag carrier airline, left New York for Frankfurt, most, but by no means all, of its passengers were Jews, with about 80% of them being Hasidic Jews bound for Budapest. Because some of the Hasidic passengers apparently refused to wear their masks, once the plane arrived in Frankfurt, Lufthansa banned all but two Jews (men whose yarmelkes were hidden under baseball caps) from boarding their flight to Hungary. This openly antisemitic conduct was bad under any circumstances, but it was especially ugly coming from a German company. After all, in 1938, a year that was the prelude...

Planes are flying into more inclusive skies. German airline group Lufthansa has dropped welcoming language that includes gendered phrases, including the traditional “ladies and gentlemen.” The company — which includes Lufthansa, Eurowings and Brussels Airlines — has begun instead referring to customers as “guests” or getting rid of the direct subject altogether and simply offering, “Good morning here on board,” CNN reported.

In order for people to travel in 2021, they may eventually need a COVID vaccine passport. Several companies and technology groups have begun developing smartphone apps or systems for individuals to upload details of their COVID-19 tests and vaccinations, creating digital credentials that could be shown in order to enter concert venues, stadiums, movie theaters, offices, or even countries. The Common Trust Network, an initiative by Geneva-based nonprofit The Commons Project and the World Economic Forum, has partnered with several airlines including Cathay Pacific, JetBlue, Lufthansa, Swiss Airlines, United Airlines and Virgin Atlantic, as well as hundreds of health systems...

Lufthansa said Monday it will slash more jobs on top of 22,000 previously announced cuts, as well as put more planes out of service, because it is currently losing some €500 million a month. With demand set to be lower than expected through winter as the coronavirus pandemic continues to severely curtail travel, the airline said it now plans to reduce its fleet by 150 planes by 2025. It had previously estimated it would have to scrap 100 aircraft in response to the unprecedented crisis in the aviation sector. Lufthansa, which received a government bailout worth €9 billion in June,...

After fully privatizing Deutsche Lufthansa AG a quarter-century ago, the German government will become a minority owner in an effort to rescue the country’s largest airline from economic devastation wrought by coronavirus travel restrictions. The airline group, which includes Lufthansa Airlines, SWISS International Air Lines and Austrian Airlines, agreed Monday to a 9 billion euro ($9.8 billion) bailout package in which the federal government will receive a 20% stake in the company in return for two board seats and veto power over any hostile takeover bid. Lufthansa agreed to limit dividends and management pay. The government will also give Lufthansa...

Lufthansa, Europe's largest airline, has begun serving some of its passengers one of the same menu items that it developed for German astronaut Alexander Gerst, who launched to the space station in June. The space food, now served at 35,000 feet in addition to 250 miles above the planet, is available to business class passengers on long-haul flights originating in Germany. "Passengers will have the chance to enjoy one of the menus that Alexander Gerst and his crew will also be receiving on board [the station] as special highlights, chicken ragout with mushrooms," Lufthansa announced in a recent press release...

Global airlines are obeying Beijing’s demands to refer to Taiwan explicitly as a part of China, despite the White House’s call this month to stand firm against such “Orwellian nonsense.” The Associated Press found 20 carriers, including Air Canada, British Airways and Lufthansa, that now refer to Taiwan, the self-ruled island that Beijing considers Chinese territory, as a part of China on their global websites. There are just three days left for dozens of foreign airlines to decide whether to comply with Beijing’s orders, or face consequences that could cripple their China business, including legal sanctions. Many have already sided...

Many pilots in Germany are refusing to participate in deportations, local media reported on Monday. Following an information request from the Left Party, the government said that 222 planned flights were stopped by pilots who wanted no part in the controversial return of refugees to Afghanistan, which has been deemed a “safe country of origin” in some cases, despite ongoing violence and repression in parts of the country. Some 85 of the refusals between January and September 2017 came from Germany’s main airline Lufthansa and its subsidiary Eurowings. About 40 took place at Düsseldorf airport, where the controversial deportations are...

The CEO of Germany’s Lufthansa has said the company would be interested in buying Italy’s troubled flagship carrier if an opportunity arose to “to create a new Alitalia”. His comments come just days before an October 16th deadline for the submission of bids. Ryanair pulled out of the running earlier this month as it deals with a shortage of pilots that forced it to cancel thousands of flights. Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr told German media on Thursday: “Alitalia as it exists today is not up for debate. But if there was a chance of creating a new Alitalia, then as...

Venezuela is running out of just about everything. Food, medicine, electricity, toilet paper, condoms -- you name it. ( Full title ). And over the weekend at least two large international airlines -- Lufthansa and LATAM -- said they will suspend service to Venezuela in the coming months due to the economic crisis. The widespread scarcities and fleeing businesses reflect a country in crisis. "There's a shortage of everything at some level," says Ricardo Cusanno, vice president of Venezuela's Chamber of Commerce. Cusanno says 85% of companies in Venezuela have halted production to some extent. Venezuela's economy is spiraling into...

The close encounter between the wide-body, four-engine Airbus A380 and the drone occurred at about 1:30 p.m. at an altitude of 5,000 feet (152 metres) as the unmanned aircraft passed about 200 feet (61 meters) over the Lufthansa flight 14 miles (22.5 km) east of the airport, the FAA said. No evasive action was taken by the airline crew, and the plane, Lufthansa Flight 456, safely made its landing minutes later without further incident, according to FAA spokesman Ian Gregor. The FAA immediately alerted the Los Angeles Police Department's air support division, an LAPD spokesman said. The number of passengers...

Germany’s flag carrier Lufthansa posted a 55-percent jump in profits for 2015, benefiting from low oil prices. The result comes despite protracted industrial action by pilots and flight attendants throughout last year. Adjusted EBIT jumped by 55 percent to €1.8 billion ($2 billion) for the full year. Net profit came in at €1.7 billion, 30 times higher than in 2014. …

Is 162 centimetres metres (five feet three inches) too short for an aircraft pilot? Lufthansa regulations say that their crew must be at least 165 centimetres tall - but one applicant has now dragged them to Germany's highest labour court for discrimination.The young woman got through the first few rounds of the extremely tough application process for a coveted pilot position at Europe's biggest airline. Candidates must speak fluent English and German, be physically fit and mentally dependable. No standard minimum height And - one more thing - pilots must be between 165 and 198 centimetres tall. "That's to ensure...

Passengers, including a team of RK "Vojvodina", they managed to overcome a Jordanian with an American passport, which he tried to break into the cockpit, "Lufthansa" planes to fly Frankfurt - Belgrade. The plane landed safely and was taken over by Jordanian police. He was ordered detention for up to 48 hours for the criminal offense of causing general danger and was forwarded to the Prosecutor's Office for interrogation. Jordanian could not bring down the plane, but only to cause panic, told RTS penzionsani pilot Dragan Jovanovic.

Paris (France) (AFP) - Air France and Lufthansa said Saturday they will stop flying over Egypt's Sinai peninsula after a Russian passenger plane went down in the area with the loss of all 224 people on board. The airlines said they were taking the measure as a precaution while the cause of the Russian crash was investigated. The Islamic State (IS) group affiliate in Egypt has said it downed the plane, without saying how, but Russia's transport minister said the claim "cannot be considered accurate" and an Egyptian security official said the plane did not crash because of an attack....

Vincent Asaro, accused of receiving a cut of one of US history’s biggest cash thefts, was arrested last year after allegedly keeping his role secret for decades. For decades, prosecutors say, Vincent Asaro managed to keep hidden his role in an infamous mob heist that was immortalized in the hit movie Goodfellas. As he did so, others of his generation were locked up or died gangland deaths. A frail-looking Asaro finally emerged from the shadows after his arrest last year. He will go on trial on Monday on charges that he pocketed a cut of the $6m Lufthansa robbery at...