Lufthansa Topples Air France as Europe’s Biggest Airline After 14 Years
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Deutsche Lufthansa AG has overtaken Air France-KLM Group to become Europe’s biggest airline, grabbing the top spot held by the Paris-based company since a merger of the French and Dutch flag-carriers in 2004.
Having closed in on its rival in 2017, the German carrier finally cruised past last year after boosting passenger traffic 9 percent, almost three times the pace of growth at its rival. Air France-KLM is also being reeled in by British Airways owner IAG SA, which expanded twice as fast in 2018.