In just four years, Lufthansa will be celebrating 100 years of history. The flag carrier of Germany has had a long, eventful journey over the years, helped by several influential aircraft. Ahead of the milestone, the airline is paying tribute to two planes that have been part of its story.

Two veterans

Three years ago, we covered how Lufthansa was sending vintage airliners to be stored in a Bremen warehouse. The first of these was a Lockheed L-1649A Super Star that was recently restored. Lufthansa was the last operator to acquire a new Starliner, going to hold four units of the type for transatlantic operations.

Another aircraft that joined the Super Star in Bremen was the German-designed Junkers Ju 52. Under the name of Luft Hansa, the carrier took on the first example of this trimotor type. This plane performed its last flight in August 2018 before being split into three and carried by land in 2019.

Soon, the pair will be honored at an exhibition in Germany. During a staff event, Lufthansa Chairman and CEO Carsten Spohr highlighted that the pair of planes will be placed in a new home to mark his airline's centennial. They will be permanently housed in either Frankfurt or Munich, and the process will begin before 2022 is over.

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Lufthansa recently stated the following about the two aircraft:

“The Lockheed Superstar and the JU 52 D-AQUI are currently in storage at Paderborn-Lippstadt Airport. The "Superstar" has been dismantled into individual parts, while the JU 52 is almost completely assembled. The aircraft was built in 1936 at the Junkers factory in Dessau, while the Super Star had its maiden flight in 1956. The propeller-driven old-timers are among the most distinctive and historically significant aircraft in aviation history,”

“On Monday, October 17, the newest aircraft in the Lufthansa fleet will pay a brief visit to its famous predecessors. The first Boeing B787 in Lufthansa colors with the registration D-ABPA will make a stopover at Paderborn-Lippstadt Airport in the afternoon as part of the landing training required for cockpit crews.”

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Twists and turns

Deutsche Luft Hansa AG was founded back on January 6th, 1926, following the merger of Deutscher Aero Lloyd and Junkers Luftverkehr. Today's outfit is not a legal successor to the 96-year-old company. Instead, it is a development from Aktiengesellschaft für Luftverkehrsbedarf (Luftag), which was founded in 1953 and changed its name to Deutsche Lufthansa AG the following year.

Altogether, the name and branding of Lufthansa see their roots in 1926's Deutsche Luft Hansa. However, Germany was split into two in the years that followed World War II, in which the Ju 52 saw heavy action.

Luftag became West Germany's airline. What became East Germany's stronghold, Interflug, was liquidated in April 1991 following the reunification of Germany.

Plenty has changed since the 1920s. We have seen a World War, the Cold War, the rise of the jet engine, the coming and going of supersonic travel, and the advent of low-cost carriers. Still, it is great to see that the airline is paying tribute to two aircraft that assisted in its growth.

Today, Lufthansa is not only Germany’s national carrier but is also a European aviation conglomerate. We can thank aircraft such as the Lockheed Starliner and JU 52 for the airline’s long-term ascension.

What are your thoughts about the history of Lufthansa? What do you make of the overall journey of the carrier over the decades? Let us know what you think of the airline and its operations in the comment section.