[CXDiamond]

At the moment at least as far as F is concerned they are indeed Europe’s leading airline. Air France are catching up and BA are still offering enhanced business class and selling it as F.

So good headline AnthonyDunn but really no need for the question mark because they certainly are.

[transtraxman]

As AnthonyDunn mentioned earlier, Lufthansa are going through the same problems that IAG( both BA and Iberia) faced before.

So as not to leave out the third leg on the European stool, Air France is going through the same. AF (apparently KLM is on a better footing) has tried to regroup its regional airlines into HOP, but nobody hears about that any more. AF´s confrontation with the unions in the autumn about developing Transavia France fell flat on its face, with the leaders taking a step back, as they always do. That means that AF will struggle through with the direct and indirect help from the government, as always, and no EU official confronts that.

Lufthansa will get there in the end. Germanwings take over domestic and other short haul flights from Germany, while they seem to be using Eurowings for short haul from other European cities, starting with Vienna. Other cost cutting methods and retrenching will take place, perhaps with stakes in non-core businesses being sold. Also I see any minority stake in an airline, JetBlue and Brussels Airlines come to mind, being sold. The government will back them up but in a more subtle way than the French at AF.

LH will not give up its interest in the German speaking areas of Europe and the airlines that serve them.However, others are not so safe.

I can see that if IAG have to walk away from Aer Lingus then Brussels Airlines is a likely target when/if LH put it on the block.

On the other hand LH has to sort itself out with Turkish Airlines especially since they have a susidiary airline in common, SunExpress. Turkish is the Middle east operator with a hub which can compete with LH as it operates from several German cities. That is something the other ME3 cannot do as they are prohibited in the number of German destinations and frequencies. Therefore, LH should think about co-operation with Turkish and start building bridges.It would help it save its own markets otherwise they will disappear.

http://www.anna.aero/2015/02/24/eurowings-set-take-niki-vienna-anna-aero-predicts-focus-spanish-routes/?utm_source=anna.aero+newsletter&utm_campaign=0fb93531ea-anna_nl_250215&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_ecdbf41674-0fb93531ea-86737162

[DavidGordon10]

Didn’t Alex start a thread here a little while ago on a report that LH might divest itself of Germanwings? I cannot find it.

If LH did indeed sell or close Germanwings, then that would mean they would have no LH presence of any kind on important routes like London – Berlin.

LH are a good airline (but patchy – I have posted on “LH five ways”) but their cost base, particularly salaries, is a huge problem.

[TominScotland]

LH may indeed have the best First in Europe but there is less and less of it – this report dates back to 2013 but there have been further cuts since

http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/articles/2013-10-04/lufthansa-finds-first-class-seats-dont-always-pay

Routes loosing First this year include

Frankfurt to Vancouver as of March 26, 2015
Frankfurt to Toronto as of March 29, 2015
Frankfurt to Denver as of April 10, 2015
Frankfurt to Shanghai as of May 7, 2015
Frankfurt to Orlando as of May 15, 2015
Frankfurt to Boston as of May 25, 2015
Frankfurt to Osaka Kansai as of March 29, 2015
Frankfurt to Washington Dulles as of June 22, 2015
Frankfurt to Mumbai as of June 30, 2015
Frankfurt to Seattle as of June 30, 2015

[AMcWhirter]

Hello DavidGordon10

It was actually a posting I made in another thread.

Here’s the link to the article from airliners.de (in German language) which reports that Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr had decided to close own German Wings because its operating costs are too high.

http://www.aero.de/news-21171/Germanwings-zeigt-die-Probleme-des-Lufthansa-Konzerns.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

But German Wings would be merged into Lufthansa’s low-cost EuroWings subsidiary. So Lufthansa will still retain a low-cost presence on main routes within Europe.

As we reported last week, the first of the new EuroWings bases will be in Vienna starting in autumn 2015.

Confusingly, the name of EuroWings is being used for both short- and long-haul flight operations.

http://www.businesstraveller.com/news/101381/new-eurowings-to-open-base-in-vienna

[SimonS1]

@swissdiver. I don’t think the seating is that difficult to work out on EK.

For example I’m headed to Mauritius for work next month. I know off top of the head that 2 of 3 EK flights a day from LGW and both flights from DXB to MRU are on A380 and J is vastly superior to coffin class on a BA 777.

I also know the business lounge in the new concourse in Dubai is better than anything at Terminal 5. Makes it a no brainer for me really.

[Swissdiver]

@Simon: Mauritius? I’d fly direct with Mauritius airline… Or I’d go via T5 to have the pleasure dining in the air in front of Ms. SD. And I prefer by far a B777 to a any joystick plane.

@CXDiamond: agree regarding the First Class product. But it is like the haute couture: a showcase only a few can afford. At the end of the day, it participates in the image of the airline.

[SimonS1]

@Swissdiver – as I said, YMMV. That’s what choice is all about.

[AMcWhirter]

Lufthansa must be doing something right. It’s just won the award of “Eco-Airiline of the year.” !

Link in German language:

http://www.airportzentrale.de/lufthansa-als-eco-airline-of-the-year-ausgezeichnet/38105/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

[AnthonyDunn]

Eco-airline of the year….

Isn’t that a contradiction in terms? Perhaps “the least environmentally damaging” airline of the year?

[DavidGordon10]

Alex – yesterday, on Eurowings.

That is interesting, and the immediate question – is the salary structure in Eurowings similar to Germanwings? If LH is paying salaries that are too high in every subsidiary, then the outlook for them will be very difficult. If the salaries in Eurowings are lower, then that could also cause disputes, such as we saw when AF tried to expand its lower-salary operations.

[AMcWhirter]

David –

German Wings salaries are not far behind those at Lufthansa. That is the problem because therefore it cannot compete on cost with the likes of Easyjet let alone Ryanair or Wizzair.

Eurowings’ cost structure is, according to the FT, 20 per cent below German Wings which in turn is 20 per cent below that of Lufthansa.

It means that EuroWings’ costs are closer to those of Easyjet.

Here’s a link to the FT piece “Lufthansa’s new budget airline cleared for take-off.” Date: December 3, 2014. Paywall may apply.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6d86e350-7b03-11e4-8646-00144feabdc0.html#axzz3Ssy4NhP3

[DavidGordon10]

Alex – thank you, and thank you for the link. There will be some tough times ahead for the LH group, so we must wish them luck, as well as wishing them wisdom in handling their problems.

[Flightlevel]

Yes LH is late getting its act together, & will no doubt catch up in due course even with ME3 now competitors a transatlantic low cost on the way, their miss on 777’s was a big mistake, however don’t knock the 340, we know its like flying the tube, however it is the safest airliner in the sky, at least until the 380 gets there.

[AMcWhirter]

@ Flightlevel – Well despite being “late getting its act together” Lufthansa has ordered a large fleet of B777Xs which will arrive, assuming all goes to plan, in 2020.

http://aviationweek.com/commercial-aviation/lufthansa-commits-777-9x-and-a350-900

[Author]

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