German low-cost carrier Germanwings is to expand its activities at Stuttgart as part of a closer co-operation with the country’s national carrier Lufthansa. The airline will take over a number of routes currently operated by Lufthansa and its regional partners as well as adding new domestic and international links. The two airlines are working together to maximise synergies by developing a joint network development plan in the German city, a model that could be replicated at other locations across the country.
“The new timetable with optimal departure times is ideally suited to customer demand in the Stuttgart metropolitan area. We want to be present as market leader in Stuttgart with a convincing range of services for business and leisure travelers, since the Lufthansa Group sets great store by the economically strong Baden-Württemberg region,” said Carsten Spohr, Member of the Executive Board and Chief Executive Officer Lufthansa German Airlines. “With a joint market share of close to 40 per cent, Lufthansa and Germanwings are clear market leaders in Stuttgart.”
From the start of the summer 2012 schedules Germanwings will take over responsibility for the operation of all of Lufthansa’s European flights from Stuttgart, namely Bilbao (four times weekly from June 4, 2012), Brussels (three times daily from June 3, 2012), London Heathrow (three times daily from February 20, 2012), Manchester (five times weekly from July 29, 2012) and Milan Malpensa (twice daily from September 16, 2012). These are currently operated by its regional partners Contact Air and Lufthansa CityLine and will mean an increase in seat capacity as Airbus A319 equipment replaces regional jets on these services. The German carrier will also introduce new links to Catania (twice weekly from March 27, 2012), Dubrovnik (weekly from April 7, 2012) and Venice (three times weekly from March 25, 2012).
German domestic destinations will continue to be served by both carriers. Flights to Berlin will be operated by both airlines in a co-ordinated timetable. Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Munich will be served exclusively by Lufthansa, while Germanwings will operate services to Bremen, Dresden, Hanover, Rostock and Leipzig. Bremen represents a new destination from Stuttgart. The changes will expand the Germanwings route network at Stuttgart from 39 to 48 destinations and will be supported by the expansion of the airline’s based fleet to ten units.
Although Germanwings has been a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lufthansa since the start of 2009, this is the first time the carriers have developed a joint network strategy to optimise their schedules and strengthen their joint positions in the German market. This model is to extended to other cities across the country and in the future Germanwings will become responsible for European international flights from Cologne, Stuttgart and Hanover, while Lufthansa will serve European destinations from Dusseldorf, Hamburg and Berlin.
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