Lufthansa (LH, Frankfurt International) will adopt a “low-risk and fast approach” for its proposed new longhaul budget carrier CEO Carsten Spohr has said. Speaking to the Financial Times, Spohr said initial operations will focus on using either seven B767s or A330s with plans to phase in additional aircraft should the venture prove viable.

“I want to be in the air by next fall. If it works we’ll be rolling it over into A350s or 787s and we probably won't stop at seven planes either,” the CEO said.

Spohr went on to add that Lufthansa had not yet to decided on whether or not to go it alone or to partner another carrier. Previously, the German airline had pointed to using its Turkish Airlines (TK, Istanbul Airport) partnership - SunExpress (XQ, Antalya) - as a basis for the new subsidiary.

Once operational, Lufthansa says it will use the carrier to regain international market-share lost to the likes of Emirates (EK, Dubai International), Etihad Airways (EY, Abu Dhabi International), and Qatar Airways (QR, Doha Hamad International).

Lufthansa's pilot union Vereinigung Cockpit is opposing the plan and preparing a poll of its members to explore potential industrial action against it.