Germany's Lufthansa, Europe's largest airline group, announced on Thursday the immediate closure of its regional subsidiary CityLine, effective Saturday 18 April, citing a sharp rise in jet fuel prices and mounting costs from repeated strike action. The group says kerosene prices have more than doubled compared to levels before the war in Iran, and that ongoing industrial disputes — including four rounds of strikes by the Vereinigung Cockpit pilots' union since February — have significantly added to its financial strain. The closure, which grounds 27 older regional aircraft and eliminates short-haul services from Frankfurt and Munich, comes just one day after Lufthansa marked its 100th anniversary, with the group also planning to reduce medium- and long-haul capacity by removing several wide-body jets from service by end of summer.