Hotel & Tourism SMARTreport #37

EUROPE
AIR TRANSPORT
LUFTHANSA, EUROPE’S WINNER
OF THE YEAR 2017
Air Berlin’s bankruptcy and a struggling Alitalia consolidate
Lufthansa’s grip over Europe’s air transport
The August bankruptcy in Germany of Air Berlin,
concluded by the carrier’s disappearance at the
end of October opened a window of opportunity
for Lufthansa to strengthen its position in
Europe.
Mid October, Lufthansa agreed to buy assets from
insolvent Air Berlin. Since last year, the carrier had
already been leasing 38
aircraft from the insolvent
airline for its own hybrid
subsidiary, Eurowings.
The carrier is now poised
to integrate a total of 81
aircraft from Air Berlin’s fleet
of 130 aircraft. Germany’s
largest carrier announced
also it would buy Air Berlin’s
Niki leisure unit as well as a
regional affiliate.
Most importantly, it gives
Lufthansa a pre-eminent
positioning in two of
© Jengod
Europe’s most important centres of air traffic: Berlin-
Tegel and Düsseldorf. By Spring 2018, Lufthansa’s
subsidiary Eurowings will take over many of the
previous routes flown by Air Berlin from both
airports. The carrier already launched five non-stop
frequencies to New York in November. More flights
will be offered by Eurowings, even in competition
with Lufthansa on routes such as Berlin-Frankfurt,
Berlin-Munich or Düsseldorf-Munich, offering lower
fares to consumers.
In Düsseldorf, Lufthansa already boosted frequencies
on European and North American destinations and
announced that Eurowings will start flying to a
dozen new destinations from the summer.
Lufthansa meanwhile announced it would make a
€250 million for large parts of Alitalia, including the
fleet, pilots, air crew and air slots. According to a
recent report, Lufthansa offered to keep around
90-100 Alitalia aircraft, down from a fleet of 123
and use Rome Fiumicino as an intercontinental hu,b
while Milan Malpensa would be mostly a major
European gateway for point-to-point flights
ENHANCED
PARTNERSHIP
BETWEEN AIR
FRANCE-KLM
AND GOL
A reinforced partnership has
been announced between Air
France-KLM and the Brazilian
GOL.
“The aim is to position the Air
France-KLM / GOL partnership as
the most efficient and fast way
to travel between Europe and
Brazil, and also to sell our products
better”, said Zoran Jelkic, General
Manager France, Air France-KLM.
Part of the agreement favours
improved connections between
Europe and Brazil with the launch
of five non-stop weekly services
from Amsterdam (KLM) and Paris
(JOON) to Fortaleza next spring.
“Fortaleza is our new hub in Brazil.
The city is economically booming
and is the closest Brazilian
metropolis from Europe. It offers
many domestic connections,
especially to the north and northeast
of Brazil”, said Eduardo
Bernardes Neto, COO of GOL
Gol Sunrise at Santos Dumont
Airport in Rio de Janeiro