The Lufthansa aviation group has announced its decision to establish an innovation center in Barcelona, becoming its first subsidiary in southern Europe.
This strategic choice reflects the German company’s commitment to digital transformation and the search for innovative solutions for the airline industry.
With the creation of Digital Hangar, its digital unit, Lufthansa has been boosting technology subsidiaries since September 2022.
Barcelona will become its sixth venue, joining Brussels, Frankfurt, Vienna, Zurich and Gdansk.
The Barcelona center is expected to reach 300 employees by 2024 and 2025, contributing to the growth of the local economy.
Currently, the Barcelona innovation center is already in operation with a staff of 40 employees.
According to Lufthansa, the maximum number of 300 employees is not to be exceeded in order to maintain an optimal working environment and to promote employee relations.
The company is looking for specialized technology profiles, such as software engineers, data analysts, user interface and user experience designers, business analysts, product managers and solution architects.
These professionals will be dedicated to digitalization projects in areas such as booking processes, customer service and the creation of onboard digital portals to provide a personalized experience for each passenger.
The innovation center in partnership with Catalana Quantion
Lufthansa will establish its presence in Barcelona through the Catalan company Quantion, founded in 2015 with the aim of accelerating digital transformation projects for companies.
Quantion, which employs more than 120 professionals, will be responsible for the development of Lufthansa’s Barcelona headquarters, including office search, recruitment of personnel and execution of innovation projects for the aviation group.
The company expects to find the definitive space for the subsidiary early next year and, until then, it will work from Quantion’s offices, located in Consell de Cent between Balmes and Rambla de Catalunya.
Lufthansa’s selection process for its new technology subsidiary involved some 65 companies, and Quantion was selected among the finalists.
Why in Barcelona?
Lufthansa was looking for a complementary location to its Polish hub in Gdansk.
The final decision was based on the company’s suitability as a partner, as well as the environment and factors such as access to talent, degree of innovation and air connections to Germany.
Barcelona proved to be a perfect fit, with five daily flights to Berlin and a location that matched Lufthansa’s vision.
Lufthansa’s decision to establish an innovation center in Barcelona has been supported by the Departament d’Empresa i Treball and Acció, the Generalitat’s Agency for Competitiveness.
This project positions Barcelona as a benchmark in southern Europe.
