Deutsche Lufthansa AG

Deutsche Lufthansa AG is a German stock corporation registered in Cologne (HRB 2168) and operated from the Lufthansa Aviation Center at Frankfurt Airport ¹. The group carried 135 million passengers on just over one million flights in FY 2025 at a passenger load factor of 83.2% ². It operates Lufthansa Airlines, SWISS, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines and Eurowings, plus Lufthansa Cargo and Lufthansa Technik ².

Revenue was €39.6bn (+5%) with adjusted EBIT of €1.96bn and a 4.9% margin ². The fleet stood at 737 aircraft at year-end with an average age of 14.4 years and 219 aircraft on firm order through 2032; about 45 deliveries are planned for 2026 ¹². The catering business is no longer part of the group: the remaining LSG Group was sold to AURELIUS on 31 October 2023 ¹¹. ITA Airways is 41% owned, rising to 90% on closing expected in Q1 2027 ⁶.

• ·4 Aug 2026, Q2 results. Revenue rose 8% to €11.1bn, but adjusted EBIT fell to €383m from €870m after about €750m of extra fuel cost and at least €150m of strike impact. FY 2026 adjusted EBIT guidance became a range of €1.7bn to €2.2bn ⁵.
• ·Q2 2026, Lufthansa Technik. Revenue up 11% to €2.2bn, external revenue up 23%, adjusted EBIT €157m ⁵.
• ·Q2 2026, Lufthansa Cargo. Yields up 27%, adjusted EBIT €116m and a margin above 11% ⁵.
• ·12 May 2026, ITA Airways. Supervisory Board approved exercising the option to buy a further 49% for €325m, taking the stake to 90% ⁶. S&P affirmed its BBB- rating the same day ⁷.
• ·April 2026, operations. Six strike days by pilots and cabin crew ⁵; CityLine's 27 aircraft were withdrawn permanently ⁹.
• ·23 Apr 2026, state aid. The EU Court of Justice dismissed Lufthansa's appeal over the 2020 recapitalisation approval; the Commission's re-assessment continues ¹³.

The Executive Board has five members ³:

• ·Carsten Spohr, Chief Executive Officer. On the board since 2011, CEO since 2014 ³.
• ·Till Streichert, Chief Financial Officer, on the board since 2024 ³. Finance owns the 2026 capex guidance, lowered to about €2.5bn ⁴.
• ·Dieter Vranckx, Chief Commercial Officer since 2024 ³.
• ·Grazia Vittadini, Chief Technology Officer since 2024 ³. Relevant for any digital, IT or fleet-technology supplier.
• ·Michael Niggemann, Chief Human Resources and Legal Officer and Labour Director since 2020 ³. As Labour Director, responsible for labour relations, the background to the 2026 strikes ⁵.

At Lufthansa Technik, Sören Stark has chaired the executive board since July 2022 ¹⁴. For MRO or component topics, the decision sits with Technik's own board and procurement, not group headquarters.

The group is profitable on a full-year basis but in a weaker phase. FY 2025 adjusted EBIT grew 19%, and adjusted free cash flow rose 41% to €1.19bn ². H1 2026 turned negative at the operating level because fuel costs rose faster than fares, while cash generation held at €1.0bn of adjusted free cash flow ⁴. Liquidity of €10.7bn and investment-grade ratings from S&P, Fitch, Moody's and Scope remain in place ^{4 7}.

The table shows the trend a counterpart will have in mind when negotiating.

Procurement is decentralised. Each airline buys locally for its own operations, while Lufthansa Cargo and Lufthansa Technik run their own sourcing as separate companies. Lufthansa Technik is the largest non-airline unit and grows fastest: FY 2025 revenue rose 12% to €8.049bn, and the company plans more than €2bn of investment over five years, including new engine-parts production in Portugal and an engine facility in Calgary ⁸.

Likely: strong price pressure. In September 2025 Lufthansa announced 4,000 administrative job cuts by 2030 and set a 2028 to 2030 target of 8% to 10% adjusted EBIT margin ¹⁰, against 4.9% achieved in FY 2025 ². The 2026 capex cut from €2.9bn to about €2.5bn ⁴ means discretionary spend is under review. Expect requests for multi-year price holds and productivity clauses.

Likely: formal, slow qualification. A listed group with EASA-regulated operations runs structured supplier audits covering finance, quality and, for technical suppliers, the applicable aviation approvals. Plan for several months between first meeting and first purchase order.

Possible: more openness at Technik and Cargo. Both units are growing and have earnings-increase guidance for 2026 ⁴. Capacity, lead time and quality may weigh more than unit price there.

1. 1.Which legal entity would contract with us, and does it buy for one airline, a hub or the whole group?
2. 2.How has the 2026 capex reduction to about €2.5bn ⁴ changed approval thresholds for new suppliers?
3. 3.For Lufthansa Technik: which of the new sites (Portugal, Calgary, Tulsa) ⁸ need external capacity or materials in 2026 to 2027?
4. 4.What qualification steps and approvals are mandatory for our category, and what is the typical timeline?
5. 5.How will ITA Airways' procurement be integrated after closing in Q1 2027 ⁶?
6. 6.Which reference suppliers in our category have been onboarded in the past two years?

• ·State aid. The EU Court of Justice upheld the annulment of the Commission's approval of the 2020 recapitalisation on 23 April 2026; the Commission's re-assessment is open and its financial outcome unknown ¹³.
• ·Labour relations. Six strike days in April 2026 cost at least €150m ⁵, and the CityLine shutdown followed industrial action and higher fuel prices ⁹. Further disputes could affect delivery windows at Frankfurt and Munich.
• ·Earnings volatility. H1 2026 adjusted EBIT of −€229m and a widened FY guidance range reflect fuel exposure ⁴.

None of these is a reason to avoid the relationship. They argue for force-majeure language on customer-side strikes and for avoiding large up-front investments tied to a single volume commitment.