Lufthansa is marking its 100th anniversary with two special simultaneous celebratory flights on April 6, 2026.
At 15.00 local time, a Boeing 787-9 (registration D-ABPU) and an Airbus A350-900 (registration D-AIXL), both painted in the airline’s special centennial livery, which features a large white crane over a dark blue fuselage, will fly from Berlin (BER) to Zurich (ZRH) and Cologne (CGN).
With these flights, which will carry around 400 people onboard between them, including members of staff and media, the airline is re-enacting the launch of its pre-war predecessor, the Deutsche Luft Hansa on April 6, 1926 (the modern Lufthansa was re-constituted in 1953).
On that first day of operations 100 years ago, the German carrier also operated two simultaneous flights out of Berlin (albeit from Tempelhof airport, since obviously the modern Berlin-Brandenburg airport didn’t exist at the time): a Fokker Grulich F II flew to Zurich with a pair of newlyweds onboard, while a Dornier Komet III D-580 departed Cologne carrying a single passenger.
A celebratory event will also take place on the ground at Berlin Brandenburg airport with the assistance of hundreds of people.
Lufthansa has flown the two aircraft that will take part in this stunt from its bases in Frankfurt and Munich, since it usually doesn’t operate on these two routes.
As part of its centennial celebratory program, the German carrier is also preparing the opening of the Lufthansa Group Hangar One visitor and conference center at Frankfurt Airport, which is planned for the summer of 2026. This space will also celebrate the history of the Lufthansa Group through the display of two of the airline’s historic and most iconic aircraft, a Junkers Ju 52 and Lockheed L-1649A Super Star, which have been reassembled on site.
