Lufthansa marks 100th anniversary with special aircraft paint job

Germany’s largest airline, Lufthansa, began the celebration of its centenary slightly early on Tuesday.

The first aircraft with special livery commemorating the landmark has landed in Frankfurt. A new Boeing 787-9 is painted with an oversized crane – the airline’s logo – along with the years 1926 | 2026 on its fuselage.

The aircraft is one of six planes Lufthansa plans to decorate in anniversary colours to commemorate the airline’s origins a century ago.

The anniversary Dreamliner is to be used for its first scheduled flights in a few weeks, Lufthansa said. The anniversary fleet is expected to be complete in the autumn of 2026.

January 6 marks the 100th anniversary of the original “Deutsche Luft Hansa Aktiengesellschaft” in 1926.

Lufthansa intends to celebrate the centenary more formally in April, reflecting the date of the airline’s first official flight on April 6, 1926.

Although today’s Lufthansa Group has no legal ties to its Nazi-era predecessor, the company points to its early history as part of its aviation and technical heritage.

It was not until April 1955, almost 10 years after the end of the World War II, that the first scheduled flights under the name Lufthansa resumed.