Lufthansa Group has marked a century in the air with a landmark ceremony at Frankfurt Airport, where Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz formally opened Hangar One, the carrier’s new conference and visitor centre.
The event, held on Wednesday, brought together ambassadors, senior politicians and industry figures to celebrate the founding of the original Lufthansa in 1926 and to inaugurate a flagship facility intended to showcase both the group’s heritage and its plans for the future of European aviation.
Carsten Spohr, chief executive of Lufthansa Group, told guests the centenary represented “the beginning of an unprecedented success story” that had grown into today’s pan-European business. “With 110,000 employees across 14 airlines, at Lufthansa Cargo and Lufthansa Technik, at six hubs in five home markets in the heart of Europe, we will continue to fulfil our mission: to connect people, cultures and economies in a sustainable way,” he said. “Air transport has been a growth industry for a hundred years and will remain so in the future.”
Delivering the keynote address, Chancellor Merz described Lufthansa as “an integral part of the history of the Federal Republic and a key company for Germany as a business location”. He praised the workforce for their role in keeping passengers and freight moving safely, adding: “I wish Lufthansa continued success for the next 100 years.”
Hangar One itself is positioned as the centrepiece of the anniversary celebrations. Built at Frankfurt am Main, the group’s largest single base of operations, the facility is designed to provide new collaborative working space for staff while also offering customers, corporate partners and aviation enthusiasts a venue to engage with the brand. Two extensively restored historic aircraft, a Junkers Ju 52 and a Lockheed Super Star, take pride of place on permanent display, alongside an open gallery of artefacts from the airline’s corporate archive, several of which are being shown publicly for the first time. The hangar will open to the general public in early summer.
Lufthansa Group remains one of the most significant employers in German aviation, with roughly 65 per cent of its more than 100,000 staff based in the country and more than 35,000 working in Frankfurt alone. The group argues that this footprint underpins Germany’s status as a leading aviation nation and supports the wider business travel economy across its European hubs.
The guest list reflected the company’s standing in Berlin and beyond. Federal Minister of Transport Patrick Schnieder and Hessian Minister-President Boris Rhein were among the attendees, joined by members of state governments from Hesse, Bavaria and Berlin, as well as representatives from European institutions.
For corporate travel buyers, the symbolism of the day was twofold. The opening of Hangar One signals continued investment in Frankfurt as a premium long-haul gateway at a time when European network carriers are competing hard for high-yield business traffic. It also positions the Lufthansa Group, which today encompasses brands including SWISS, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines and ITA Airways, as a consolidator with the scale to shape the next decade of intra-European and intercontinental business travel.
As Spohr put it on stage, the centenary is intended as a staging post rather than a finishing line. With Hangar One now open and a new chapter of cross-border integration under way, Lufthansa’s second century begins with a clear message to the corporate market: Frankfurt remains central to its plans.