The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is proposing a $6.4 million civil penalty against Deutsche Lufthansa for conducting nearly 900 flights that the FAA says did not comply with U.S. Federal Aviation Regulations.
According to the FAA, Lufthansa operated the flights to and from two U.S. airports ─ Philadelphia International and San Diego International ─ “when it knew it lacked FAA authorization to do so.”
In a statement issued last week, the FAA said that neither airport was in Lufthansa’s FAA operations specifications; non-U.S. airlines may fly into and out of only airports that are listed in their operations specifications.
The FAA specifically alleges that Lufthansa operated about 600 flights with Airbus A340s between Frankfurt International Airport and San Diego between March 22, 2018, and May 27, 2019, and about 292 flights between Frankfurt and Philadelphia with A330-300s and Boeing 747-400s between Oct. 28, 2018, and April 10, 2019,
After Lufthansa receives the FAA’s civil penalty notification, the airline has 30 days to respond.