Germanwings GmbH is a low-cost airline based in Cologne, Germany, and is wholly owned by Lufthansa. Cologne Bonn Airport, Stuttgart Airport and to a lesser extent Berlin Tegel Airport are the important hubs in the airline's network of approximately 86 destinations. Further Germanwings bases are at Hannover-Langenhagen Airport and Dortmund Airport.
In January 2013 Lufthansa will combine short-haul operations outside its main Frankfurt and Munich hubs with Germanwings and it is predicted they will carry 18 million passengers annually.[3]

In 1997, Eurowings set up a low-cost department, which became a separate company under the name Germanwings on 27 October 2002. On 7 December 2005, the airline signed an agreement to purchase 18 Airbus A319 aircraft (with a further 12 options), with deliveries scheduled from July 2006 until 2008.
During winter 2004–2005 Germanwings leased two Boeing 717s from Aerolíneas de Baleares to test this type of aircraft, but no order was made afterwards.