Lufthansa is a Finalist for Best Short-Haul Airline at the
2026 Travelling for Business Awards, and the nomination lands in a symbolic year: the German flag carrier is marking a century in the air. One hundred years on, its short-haul network remains what it has long been for UK business travellers — the most dependable way into the German economy and, through it, the world.
The model is classic hub-and-spoke, executed at scale. From airports across the UK, frequent services feed Frankfurt and Munich, twin hubs whose connecting banks open up Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Asia in a single stop. For travellers bound for Germany itself — still Britain's most important European trading partner — the schedule depth on routes into both hubs supports the day return that corporate itineraries demand, while Lufthansa City Airlines adds fresh capacity on European feeder routes.
The product is advancing quickly for a network of this size. Lufthansa has
launched free Starlink high-speed Wi-Fi, bringing satellite broadband to short-haul cabins at no charge — a genuine productivity upgrade on sectors where every minute is working time. Fleet renewal continues with the Airbus A320neo family, and the centenary itself has been marked with substance rather than mere ceremony: the carrier
opened Hangar One at Frankfurt, a new conference and visitor centre that doubles as a statement of confidence in the hub's future. Nine new routes across Frankfurt and Munich joined the summer 2026 schedule.
Around the flying sits the familiar Lufthansa architecture: Miles & More, Europe's largest frequent-flyer programme; the reciprocity of Star Alliance, which the carrier co-founded; extensive lounges; and an operation whose engineering culture still sets industry standards. Group sisters SWISS, Austrian, Brussels Airlines and now ITA Airways widen the one-stop options over Zurich, Vienna, Brussels and Rome, and when plans change mid-trip, that collective density is the safety net.
A Finalist's place in 2026 recognises a carrier proving that a centenarian can still innovate — free satellite Wi-Fi on a forty-five-minute hop makes the point neatly. Winners will be announced at the 2026 Travelling for Business Awards, and Lufthansa brings a hundred years of form to the contest.
