The US Department of Transportation has imposed six-figure fines on Lufthansa and Swiss after the airlines operated flights in prohibited airspace. The violations occurred as part of codeshare agreements with United Airlines and violate US aviation regulations.
Lufthansa was fined $220.000, while Swiss must pay $200.000. According to the ministry, Lufthansa operated several flights using the United Airlines code between March 2022 and April 2024 in airspace closed to U.S. operators by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). A similar investigation found that Swiss also violated these regulations several times between February 2022 and March 2024.
The US Department of Transportation stressed that codeshare agreements require airlines to comply with US regulations, even if they operate the flights themselves. The violations were considered non-compliance with the operating license. Lufthansa and Swiss were formally informed of the sanctions on December 30, 2024 and asked to avoid similar violations in the future.
Details of the specific flight routes were not released, but similar penalties were imposed on Emirates and Air Canada earlier this year for overflying Iraqi airspace.
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