Lufthansa has announced plans to merge its domestic and some of its European operations with its low-cost brand Germanwings in order to cut costs.
The airline will combine its domestic and European schedules, outside of its main hubs of Frankfurt and Munich, with Germanwings in January.
The new low-cost division will have its headquarters in Cologne.
The airline said the decision about the future brand name will be made in the upcoming months.
Christoph Franz, CEO and chairman of the Executive Board of Deutsche Lufthansa, said: "Combining our domestic German and European point-to-point services has enormous potential to improve efficiency.
"Our aim is to once again fly these services profitably under the umbrella of a single company.
"This means we are continuing to offer our guests the prospect of a dense, high-quality network even outside of our Frankfurt and Munich hubs. And our employees in these areas have the prospect of secure jobs within a company of the Lufthansa Group."
