The Lufthansa airline is retiring the flight number 9525 after a Germanwings flight with the same code crashed in the French Alps on Tuesday. Germanwings is a low-cost airline owned by the Lufthansa Group.

Germany has been plunged into a state of shock and grief by the crash of an aircraft of Lufthansa's subsidiary Germanwings in the French Alps region, killing all 150 passengers and crew on board, including 67 Germans.

Among the 67 Germans, on board the Airbus A 320 flight from Barcelona to Dusseldorf, were a group of 16 students and two teachers from a high school in the state of North Rhine Westphalia who were returning after attending an exchange programme in Spain. About 45 Spanish citizens are reportedly among the crash victims.