Lufthansa (LH, Frankfurt International) is to scale back longhaul operations out of its third largest German base - Düsseldorf - this coming winter German aviation news portal, Airliners.de, has reported.

Airline sources who spoke to the site confirmed the carrier's plans to terminate its current 6x weekly service to Chicago O'Hare on October 24 while its other intercontinental flight out of Dusseldorf - a daily A340-300 service to New York Newark - will be switched to an A330-300. In a further blow to the airline's operations there, maintenance of the A330 will also be shifted to Munich.

While Lufthansa has yet to officially comment on the shift, it is believed Emirates (EK, Dubai International) and Air Berlin (1991)'s growing presence at the airfield has begun to erode the profitability of Lufthansa's longhaul flights out of Dusseldorf. Currently Air Berlin offers flights to the Caribbean, Mexico, the United States, the Middle East while Emirates has boosted its Dusseldorf operations to include a double-daily service to Dubai International operated with A380-800 and B777-300(ER) machinery.

To contend with an increasingly cutthroat market, Lufthansa has repositioned its Eurowings (EW, Düsseldorf) subsidiary as an LCC whose network will encompass not only Europe, but also international destinations. Budget flights to Thailand, the Caribbean, and the Middle East are slated to launch in November this year.

Group Chief Executive Officer Carsten Spohr recently told Reuters newswire that if the project proves successful, Lufthansa may integrate other wholly-owned subsidiaries or even part-owned stakes such as Brussels Airlines (SN, Brussels National) and Air Dolomiti (EN, Verona), into the Eurowings platform.