2019 has been a good year for Lufthansa, with the launch of its 22nd destination in the U.S. with the inauguration of flights departing from Austin. New flight service from Las Vegas is also expected to begin later this year.
Lufthansa Group airlines serve 343 destinations in 103 countries, with the U.S. making up the largest market that the company serves outside of its home market in Europe. More than 110 flights depart between the U.S. and Europe on a daily basis, and according to Frank Naeve, v.p. of sales for The America, Lufthansa is consistently experiencing growth.
Of the 800 aircraft serving Lufthansa Group airlines, 200 of them operate flights with Eurowings, the low-cost airline that allows Lufthansa to serve a wider variety of markets and customers. The new Eurowings was launched in March 2015 at the ITB in Germany and started by transforming the Cologne-based Germanwings LCC into a European carrier also offering long haul flights.
“In the end, it’s not only about bringing your cost down because sometimes that endangers your premium promise,” says Carsten Sophr, CEO and chairman of the executive board. “In our case it was also about launching a new airline, Eurowings, as a second brand, which is our answer to those markets where our premium brands—SWISS, Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines—are not the right product and brand to deal with the market requirements.”
Eurowings allows Lufthansa to continue servicing the premium clientele that built the legacy of the company, while also expanding to other markets and not “over-stretching” its premium service, Sophr explains, also adding that the company will need more time to grow in popularity.
“We are late in fighting the low cost competition in Europe,” Sophr says. “We found the right strategic answer with Eurowings, but for more commercial success, it will take time.”
Growing Responsibly
While growth is key to the continued success of Lufthansa and the other airlines in the company group, Sophr says this will not come at the sacrifice of providing excellent service.
“We try to keep some element of uniqueness in air travel. For us, this is not just transport. This is more about hospitality,” he explains. “We don’t just fight for quantity and price, but for quality as well. It’s a part of the DNA of our airline.”
For more information, visit lufthansa.com.
This article was originally written by Jessica Poitevien for Recommend.com.
