BERLIN – Exactly 100 years ago, on April 6, 1926, the first scheduled flights of Deutsche Luft Hansa took off from Berlin-Tempelhof Airport, marking the start of regular German airline operations.
Two aircraft departed that day: one bound for Zurich via Halle, Erfurt, Stuttgart-Boeblingen, and Duebendorf, carrying four passengers in a Fokker-Grulich high-wing monoplane with a cruising speed of 120 km/h. The pilot flew in an open cockpit. The second flight headed to Cologne. Formed on January 6, 1926, from the merger of Deutsche Aero Lloyd and Junkers Luftverkehr, Luft Hansa received approval for operations from the Reich Ministry of Transport on March 28.
On Easter Monday, April 6, 2026, Lufthansa commemorated the centenary with a recreation of the inaugural flights at Berlin-Tempelhof, linking the airline’s historical roots to its modern operations. The original Luft Hansa ceased after World War II; today’s Lufthansa was re-established in 1953 and resumed flights in 1955.