Luxair

IATA ICAO Callsign LG LGL LUXAIR
Founded	1948
Commenced operations	1962
Hubs	Luxembourg Airport
Frequent-flyer program	Miles & More
Fleet size	21
Destinations	85
Headquarters	Munsbach, Luxembourg
Key people	Gilles Feith, CEO
Website	luxair.lu

Luxair, legally Luxair S.A., Societe Luxembourgeoise de Navigation Aerienne, is the flag carrier of Luxembourg with its headquarters and hub at Luxembourg Airport. It operates scheduled services to destinations in Europe, North Africa, the Mediterranean and Middle East with additional charter and seasonal services. It is Luxembourg's only passenger-carrying airline offering regular, non-charter service.

History

Early years

A former Luxair Lockheed L-1649A Starliner

A former Luxair Boeing 747SP

Luxair descended from Luxembourg Airlines, which was founded in 1948. Luxair started to be set up in 1961 to meet the growing demand for air links between Luxembourg and other European cities. In 1962, Luxembourg Airlines became Luxair and began flights by launching a Luxembourg–Paris route with a Fokker F27 Friendship.

Luxair's first aircraft was this Fokker F27 Friendship, pictured here in 1966.

From 1964 to 1969, Luxair operated three Lockheed L-1649A Starliner aircraft in a co-operative agreement with Trek Airways, from Luxembourg to Johannesburg. The Starliners were painted in Luxair livery and were registered in Luxembourg. By 1967, Luxair's fleet consisted of three Fokker F27 Friendships and one Vickers Viscount. The latter was written off in a non-fatal accident in 1969 and replaced the following year by the airline's first jet airliner, a Sud Aviation Caravelle. By 1976, Luxair was operating a Boeing 707 with a Boeing 737-200 then joining the fleet in 1977.

Over the years, Luxair gradually introduced further jet aircraft: Boeing 737-400s and Boeing 737-500s; as well as Fokker 50 turboprops and Embraer ERJ-135 and ERJ-145 regional jets. In the 1980s, Boeing 747SPs owned by South African Trek Airways and operated by LUXAVIA were painted in Luxair colours, flying routes between South Africa and Europe, as well as holiday charters from Luxembourg. LUXAVIA was a joint venture between Trek Airways and Luxair, enabling Trek Airways to avoid the repercussions of widespread anti-Apartheid boycotts.

Development since the 2000s

In March 2003, Luxair ordered two new Boeing 737-700s to replace its older Boeing aircraft. The first of the new aircraft was delivered on 18 February 2004. A third aircraft was ordered in August 2003 and delivered in January 2005.

Luxair's old logo, used from 21 October 1961 to 20 December 2003

On 21 December 2003, Luxair launched a new logo depicting a flying boomerang. The previous logo had been in use for 42 years.

A former Luxair Boeing 737-500

In an effort to move to an all-jet fleet, the last Fokker 50 aircraft was withdrawn from service in April 2005. The rising cost of oil made operating regional jets increasingly difficult. To lessen its exposure, Luxair decided to reintroduce turboprop aircraft, and in June 2006 it signed a firm order with Bombardier Aerospace for three Dash 8-Q400s, plus three options. The last of the three aircraft was delivered in September 2007. Two additional Q400s were ordered later.

In October 2008, Luxair decided to place an order for its first Boeing 737-800. This aircraft replaced the last Boeing 737-500 in Luxair's fleet and facilitated Luxair's offer on its holiday destinations. In 2009, the airline was awarded as the most punctual scheduled operator at London City Airport during 2008 by Flight on Time, based on CAA statistics. In 2011 Luxair carried 1,302,771 passengers.

Boeing 737-700 in 2000s livery

In 2013 and 2014, two new Boeing 737-800s fitted with Boeing Sky Interior became part of the fleet, which enabled Luxair to retire the last Boeing 737-500 from service.

In July 2015, Luxair's minority shareholder Lufthansa announced it would sell its 13 percent stake in the airline that it had held since 1993. The government of Luxembourg was named as the preferred buyer. In November 2015, the sale was finalized when Lufthansa sold its entire stake to the state of Luxembourg. Luxair also announced it would stop flying its route to Frankfurt Airport previously operated on a codeshare with Lufthansa as the latter started the same route itself. Luxair is still part of the Lufthansa frequent flyer program Miles & More.

After the bankruptcy of Air Berlin, Luxair announced they would begin flying from Saarbrucken Airport to Berlin Tegel Airport utilising a Bombardier CRJ700 which Luxair leased from Adria Airways based in Saarbrucken.

Corporate affairs

Ownership

As of November 2015, after Lufthansa sold its shares, the airline is owned by the State of Luxembourg (52.04%), Banque et Caisse d'epargne de l'etat (21.81%), Banque Internationale a Luxembourg (13.14%), the Luxair Group and others (13.11%). In total, the State of Luxembourg owns 74.98% of the company through various state-owned corporations and through its holding of 10% of Banque Internationale a Luxembourg.

Key figures

The key figures for the Luxair Group since 2008 are shown below:

	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
Turnover (€m)	417	383	409	429	447	472	495	505	498	535	593	615	263	457	683
Operating Profit (€m)	1.5	7.1	1.8	2.3		-0.5	1.3	1.8	-1.1	2.0	0.8	-8.8	-159.8	-33.7	-0.7
Net result (€m)	8.5	1.3	8.9	3.6	-21.2	8.2	-0.4	9.7	4.4	9.5	12.5	8.1	-154.9	-2.3	67.1
Number of employees (average)	2,461	2,334	2,317	2,344	2,309	2,288	2,394	2,438	2,527	2,658	2,828	2,877	2,820	2,705	3,118
Number of passengers (m)	1.22	1.18	1.25	1.30	1.37	1.51	1.68	1.81	1.84	1.93	2.13	2.14	0.66	1.08	1.2
Passenger load factor (%)	73.4	72.9	73.8	72.4	73.4	75.3	74.5	72.8	71.6	71.6	72.6	73.0	58.4	68.6
Cargo carried (thousands of tons)	810	672	735	678	638	693	725	759	822	940	957	893	947	1.124	995
Number of aircraft (at the year end)	15	16	16	16	16	16	17	17	16	17	17	19	19	19	19
Notes/sources

Destinations

As of September 2024, Luxair flies (or has flown) to the following destinations:

Luxair Bombardier Dash 8 Q400

Country	City	Airport	Notes	Refs
Austria	Innsbruck	Innsbruck Airport	Seasonal
	Salzburg	Salzburg Airport	Seasonal
	Vienna	Vienna International Airport
Belgium	Antwerp	Antwerp International Airport	Terminated
	Brussels	Brussels Airport	Terminated
Bulgaria	Burgas	Burgas Airport	Seasonal
	Varna	Varna Airport	Seasonal
Cape Verde	Boa Vista	Aristides Pereira International Airport	Seasonal
	Praia	Nelson Mandela International Airport
	Sal	Amilcar Cabral International Airport
	Sao Vicente	Cesaria evora Airport	Seasonal
Croatia	BraC	BraC Airport
	Dubrovnik	Dubrovnik Airport	Seasonal
	Split	Split Airport	Terminated
	Zadar	Zadar Airport	Seasonal
Cyprus	Paphos	Paphos International Airport	Terminated
Czech Republic	Prague	Vaclav Havel Airport Prague
Denmark	Copenhagen	Copenhagen Airport
Egypt	Hurghada	Hurghada International Airport
	Marsa Alam	Marsa Alam International Airport
Finland	Helsinki	Helsinki Airport	Terminated
	Rovaniemi	Rovaniemi Airport	Terminated
France	Ajaccio	Ajaccio Napoleon Bonaparte Airport	Seasonal
	Bastia	Bastia – Poretta Airport	Seasonal
	Biarritz	Biarritz Pays Basque Airport	Seasonal
	Bordeaux	Bordeaux–Merignac Airport
	Calvi	Calvi – Sainte-Catherine Airport	Seasonal
	Chalons	Chalons Vatry Airport	Terminated
	Figari	Figari–Sud Corse Airport	Seasonal
	La Rochelle	La Rochelle – ile de Re Airport	Terminated
	Marseille	Marseille Provence Airport	Terminated
	Montpellier	Montpellier–Mediterranee Airport
	Nantes	Nantes Atlantique Airport	Terminated
	Nice	Nice Cote d'Azur Airport
	Paris	Charles de Gaulle Airport
	Toulon	Toulon–Hyeres Airports	Seasonal
Germany	Berlin	Berlin Brandenburg Airport
		Berlin Tegel Airport	Airport Closed
	Frankfurt	Frankfurt Airport	Terminated
	Hamburg	Hamburg Airport
	Heringsdorf	Heringsdorf Airport	Seasonal
	Munich	Munich Airport
	Rostock	Rostock–Laage Airport	Terminated
	Saarbrucken	Saarbrucken Airport	Terminated
	Sylt	Sylt Airport	Seasonal
Greece	Athens	Athens International Airport	Terminated
	Chania	Chania International Airport
	Corfu	Corfu International Airport	Seasonal
	Heraklion	Heraklion International Airport	Seasonal
	Kos	Kos International Airport	Seasonal
	Mykonos	Mykonos Airport	Terminated
	Rhodes	Rhodes International Airport	Seasonal
	Santorini	Santorini International Airport	Seasonal
	Thessaloniki	Thessaloniki Airport	Seasonal
Hungary	Budapest	Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport
Iceland	Reykjavik	Keflavik International Airport	Terminated
Ireland	Dublin	Dublin Airport
Italy	Bari	Bari Karol WojtyLa Airport
	Bologna	Bologna Guglielmo Marconi Airport
	Brindisi	Brindisi Airport	Seasonal
	Cagliari	Cagliari Elmas Airport	Seasonal
	Catania	Catania–Fontanarossa Airport	Seasonal
	Florence	Florence Airport	Seasonal
	Lamezia Terme	Lamezia Terme International Airport	Seasonal
	Milan	Linate Airport
		Milan Malpensa Airport
	Naples	Naples International Airport	Seasonal
	Olbia	Olbia Costa Smeralda Airport	Seasonal
	Palermo	Falcone Borsellino Airport	Seasonal
	Pescara	Abruzzo Airport
	Rimini	Federico Fellini International Airport	Seasonal
	Rome	Rome Fiumicino Airport
	Turin	Turin Airport	Terminated
	Venice	Venice Marco Polo Airport
Luxembourg	Luxembourg City	Luxembourg Airport	Hub
Malta	Luqa	Malta International Airport
Montenegro	Podgorica	Podgorica Airport	Terminated
	Tivat	Tivat Airport	Seasonal
Morocco	Agadir	Agadir–Al Massira Airport	Seasonal
	Marrakech	Marrakesh Menara Airport
Netherlands	Amsterdam	Amsterdam Airport Schiphol	Terminated
	Rotterdam	Rotterdam The Hague Airport	Terminated
Norway	Oslo	Oslo Gardermoen Airport
Poland	Krakow	Krakow John Paul II International Airport
	Warsaw	Warsaw Chopin Airport
Portugal	Faro	Faro Airport
	Funchal	Madeira Airport
	Lisbon	Lisbon Airport
	Porto	Porto Airport
Romania	Bucharest	Bucharest Henri Coanda International Airport
Senegal	Dakar	Blaise Diagne International Airport	Seasonal
Serbia	Belgrade	Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport	Terminated
South Africa	Johannesburg	O. R. Tambo International Airport	Terminated
Spain	Alicante	Alicante–Elche Miguel Hernandez Airport	Terminated
	Almeria	Almeria Airport	Seasonal
	Barcelona	Josep Tarradellas Barcelona–El Prat Airport
	Bilbao	Bilbao Airport	Terminated
	Fuerteventura	Fuerteventura Airport
	Girona	Girona Costa Brava Airport	Terminated
	Ibiza	Ibiza Airport	Seasonal
	Jerez de la Frontera	Jerez Airport	Seasonal
	Lanzarote	Lanzarote Airport
	Las Palmas	Gran Canaria Airport
	Madrid	Adolfo Suarez Madrid–Barajas Airport
	Malaga	Malaga Airport
	Menorca	Menorca Airport	Seasonal
	Palma de Mallorca	Palma de Mallorca Airport
	Tenerife	Tenerife South Airport
	Valencia	Valencia Airport	Seasonal
Sweden	Salen/Trysil	Salen/Scandinavian Mountains Airport	Terminated
	Stockholm	Stockholm Arlanda Airport
Switzerland	Geneva	Geneva Airport
	Zurich	Zurich Airport	Terminated
Tunisia	Djerba	Djerba–Zarzis International Airport	Seasonal
	Enfidha	Enfidha–Hammamet International Airport
	Monastir	Monastir Habib Bourguiba International Airport
	Tunis	Tunis–Carthage International Airport
Turkey	Antalya	Antalya Airport	Seasonal
	Izmir	Izmir Adnan Menderes Airport
United Arab Emirates	Dubai	Al Maktoum International Airport	Seasonal
		Dubai International Airport	Seasonal
	Ras Al Khaimah	Ras Al Khaimah International Airport	Terminated
United Kingdom	London	London City Airport
		Heathrow Airport	Terminated
	Manchester	Manchester Airport
United States	New York City	John F. Kennedy International Airport	Terminated

Codeshare agreements

Luxair has codeshare agreements with the following airlines:

• Air France
• Air Serbia
• Austrian Airlines
• ITA Airways
• LOT Polish Airlines
• Lufthansa
• Scandinavian Airlines
• TAP Air Portugal
• Turkish Airlines

Fleet

Luxair De Havilland Dash 8-400

Luxair Boeing 737-800

Current fleet

As of September 2023, the Luxair fleet consists of the following aircraft:

Luxair fleet

Aircraft	In service	Orders	Passengers	Notes
Boeing 737-700	4	—	141
Boeing 737-800	4	—	186
Boeing 737 MAX 7	—	4	TBA
Boeing 737 MAX 8	2	4	186	2 to be leased.
De Havilland Dash 8-400	11	—	76
Embraer E195-E2	—	4	TBA	Order with 2 options and 3 purchase rights. Deliveries begin Q4 2025.
Total	21	12

Historical fleet

Luxair previously also operated the following aircraft types:

• Airbus A300B4-203
• Boeing 707
• Boeing 737-200
• Boeing 737-400
• Boeing 737-500
• Boeing 747SP
• Boeing 767-300ER
• Bombardier CRJ700
• Sud Aviation Caravelle 6R
• Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia
• Embraer ERJ-135
• Embraer ERJ-145
• Fokker F27 Friendship
• Fokker 50
• Vickers Viscount

Special liveries

Starting from 2020, Luxair released special liveries for some of its aircraft. On July 25, 2021, the company introduced the SUMO Artwork Luxair's Boeing 737/800. The livery was designed by the local street artist Christian "SUMO" Pearson. The special livery was meant to spread a positive message at the moment of the restart of operations after the first COVID-19 lockdown and was the main action of the company's broader "FlyingIsAnArt" project: On the 25th of November 2020, the company released a de Havilland Q400 with an orange logo to raise awareness for violence against women.

In July 2022, Luxair was the world's first airline to paint a livery of one of its aircraft in rainbow, to support the Luxembourg Pride Month. This project inspired the German carrier Lufthansa, which one year later decided to do the same on one of its aircraft.

In October 2022, Luxair painted one of its aircraft with a pink artwork by the local artist Lisa Junius and in partnership with Think Pink Lux, with the goal to contribute to the Pink October worldwide campaign.

Accidents and incidents

• On 22 December 1969, a Vickers Viscount (registration LX-LGC) arriving from Frankfurt Airport, Germany, landed 60% on the right hand side of R24, hit a snowbank piled up by snowplows at the intersection with runway 20 during landing and rollout at Luxembourg Findel Airport in freezing fog weather. No passengers were killed, but the aircraft was damaged beyond repair. It was scrapped in May 1970.
• On 6 November 2002, Luxair Flight 9642, a Fokker 50 (registration LX-LGB) incoming from Berlin, Germany, crashed in a field near the village of Niederanven during its final approach to Luxembourg Findel Airport. Twenty passengers and two crew-members died, including artist Michel Majerus. Only the pilot in command and one passenger survived. This is the only fatal accident in Luxair's history.
• On 30 September 2015, Luxair Flight 9562, operated by a Bombardier Q400, was taking off from Saarbrucken Airport when the first officer retracted the landing gear prior to the aircraft lifting off. The aircraft collapsed onto its belly and came to a stop on the runway. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair and Luxair ordered a replacement Q400 to be delivered in August 2016.
• On 4 February 2024, Luxair flight LG5682 flying between Ljubljana and Luxembourg was forced to land in Munich, after pilots reported a crack in their cockpit windshield. The Dash-8 plane was grounded for approximately 31 hours in Munich, repaired, and returned to Luxembourg.