germanwings (4U, Cologne/Bonn) will be merged with sister carrier, Eurowings (EW, Düsseldorf), ahead of the latter's planned relaunch as a regional European LCC in spring 2015. Addressing the German media in Frankfurt earlier this week, Lufthansa (LH, Frankfurt International) CEO Carsten Spohr said a revamped Eurowings will replace its fleet of twenty-three CRJ900s with the same number of A320s.

Aerotelegraph says the new carrier's first regional base will be Basel/Mulhouse/Freiburg, CH where four A320s will be based initially. In order to ensure the venture gets off to the best possible start, fellow Lufthansa partner, Swiss (LX, Zurich), will withdraw its operations from the airport allowing Eurowings to go head to head with easyJet (London Luton).

Lufthansa intends to position its new LCC brand as a competitor to the likes of Ryanair (FR, Dublin International), easyJet, and Wizz Air (W6, Budapest) to which it has lost significant domestic and regional market share over the past decade.

Concerning the German carrier's proposed budget long-haul operation, Spohr said the so-called "WINGS" initiative has provision for partnerships with other carriers. He said talks with Turkish Airlines (TK, Istanbul Airport) were already "well advanced" despite reports last year claiming relations between the two carriers remained frosty.

The venture is expected to launch in winter next year with A330s and B767s being studied alongside a proposal to reactivate nine to be phased out A340-300s.

Lufthansa intends its long-haul LCC to regain market share lost to the likes of Emirates (EK, Dubai International), Qatar Airways (QR, Doha Hamad International), and Etihad Airways (EY, Abu Dhabi International).