Lufthansa to retire Germanwings brand

Following the tragic March 23 crash in the French Alps, Lufthansa has announced that it will retire its low-cost Germanwings brand this fall, rolling the operation into its Eurowings concept.

According to Lufthansa spokesperson Claudia Lange, the two carriers “will be bundled, aiming primarily at the private travel sector." Eurowings was established as another low-cost brand in late 2014, developed in response to the growth of low-cost carriers throughout Europe, Lange told PAX.

“The ‘New Eurowings’ is the Lufthansa Group’s response to one of the major challenges confronting Europe’s airline industry such as fierce competition from the rapidly-growing low-cost carriers in the point-to-point travel segment, in Germany and throughout Europe," Lange said.

The retiring of the Germanwings brand was reportedly already under consideration prior to the March tragedy.