LUFTHANSA HBDJ (R.E.G. DAVIES)
HARDBOUND with
DUSTJACKET (112 PAGES)
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Lufthansa traces its history to 1926 when Deutsche Luft
Hansa A.G. (from 1933 styled as Deutsche
Lufthansa) was formed in Berlin. DLH, as it was known for short, was
Germany's flag carrier until 1945 when all services were suspended following
the defeat of Germany. In an effort to create a new national airline, a company
called Aktiengesellschaft für
Luftverkehrsbedarf (Luftag), was founded in Cologne on 6 January 1953,
with many of its staff having worked for the pre-war Lufthansa. West Germany
had not yet been granted sovereignty over its airspace, so it was not known
when the new airline could become operational. Nevertheless, in 1953 Luftag
placed orders for four Convair CV-340s and four Lockheed L-1049 Super
Constellations and set up a maintenance base at Hamburg Airport.
In 1958 Lufthansa ordered four Boeing 707s and started
jet flights from Frankfurt to New York City in March 1960. Boeing 720Bs were
later bought to back up the 707 fleet. In February 1961 Far East routes were
extended beyond Bangkok, Thailand, to Hong Kong and Tokyo. Lagos, Nigeria and
Johannesburg, South Africa were added in 1962.
Lufthansa introduced the Boeing 727 in 1964 and that May
began the Polar route from Frankfurt to Tokyo via Anchorage. In February 1965
the company ordered twenty-one Boeing 737s that went into service in 1968.
The wide-body era for Lufthansa started with a Boeing 747
flight on April 26, 1970. It was followed by the introduction of the DC-10-30
on November 12, 1973, and the first Airbus A300 in 1976. In 1979 Lufthansa and
Swiss International Air Lines were launch customers for the Airbus A310 with an
order for twenty-five aircraft.
The
company's fleet modernisation programme for the 1990s began on June 29, 1985
with an order for fifteen Airbus A320s and seven Airbus A300-600s. Ten Boeing
737-300s were ordered a few days later. All were delivered between 1987 and
1992. Lufthansa also bought Airbus A321, Airbus A340, and the Boeing 747-400.