German airline Lufthansa may announce takeover plans for SAS as early as the first half of 2011. Cologne-based Lufthansa is in talks with the governments of Sweden, Denmark and Norway, which own half of the unprofitable Stockholm-based carrier.
The potential acquisition would strengthen Lufthansa’s central-European dominance. It would also offer shorter polar flights from Scandinavia to Canada and northern United States.
source: swedishwire.com
German international airline carrier Lufthansa will be the first to introduce the much-awaited Internet connectivity for International flight from the US, departing from New York, Detroit and Atlanta into Frankfurt. The service is slated to offer wireless Internet that is fast enough to connect to a VPN and also send large attachments.
Deutsche Telekom will be the company providing the actual Internet service and you’ll need to shell out EUR10.95 for an hour of use or EUR19.95 for a 24-hour pass that also allows users access to Internet connectivity in the Lufthansa lounges. The service will be free through January 31st, 2011, so it’s probably a good time to give it a test drive.
source: ubergizmo.com
Deutsche Lufthansa AG will add almost 2,000 more seats to its single-aisle fleet by the end of next year by switching to berths with slimmer backrests.
The seats will allow Lufthansa to add as many as two extra rows to each plane, equivalent to 12 passengers, while boosting legroom by up to 5 centimeters (2 inches).
The revamp, which covers both business and coach classes, is the first for Lufthansa’s short-haul fleet since 2006. The Cologne, Germany-based carrier will also offer free snacks on its shortest flights for the first time in 15 years as it seeks to return fares to pre-slump levels and compete with discount carriers including Ryanair and Air Berlin .
source: Bloomberg
German airline Lufthansa said Wednesday that it was considering putting Scandinavian airline SAS into its shopping cart.
“‘It is no secret that SAS and Lufthansa are a perfect couple in many areas,'” said Aasge Dunhaup, Lufthansa’s head of European communications.
It is possible the purchase could give SAS a needed lift, providing more purchasing power and a wider service platform.
For Lufthansa, it would be the fourth major purchase since 2005, when it absorbed Swissair. It has since purchased Austrian Airlines and British Midland. In addition, the company is rumored to be interested in a purchase of Polish airline LOT.
source: UPI.com
With the October 31 start of its winter timetable, Lufthansa will add destinations and frequencies to its network schedule. The airline will provide service to 197 destinations in 85 countries (previous year: 191 destinations in 78 countries), with the average number of flights per week increasing from 11,803 to 12,218 (+3.5 percent).
Lufthansa’s ongoing fleet renewal program, which replaces existing aircrafts with larger and more fuel efficient ones, and the addition of a fourth A380, the airline’s new flagship, are contributing to an overall 9.1 percent increase in seat capacity.
source: travelagentcentral.com
Lufthansa Group will be purchasing 48 new aircraft at a value of 3.5 billion Euros to add to the group’s fleet and to replace older aircraft.
Lufthansa Passenger Airlines will receive three Airbus A330-300s and twenty Airbus of the A320-family, whilst Lufthansa Regional will receive eight new Embraer 195 aircraft.
From 1st September 2010, ‘Miles & More’ members will be able to collect miles on Germanwings flights, use Lufthansa lounges when travelling on a Germanwings ticket, and benefit from combinable airfares from the two airlines.
From 1st September, ‘Miles & More’ members can not only redeem all Germanwings flight miles on the ‘Miles & More’ programme, as previously, but will also now be able to collect award miles, applying for the same fixed mileage amounts for individual booking classes that currently apply to Miles & More members on all Lufthansa flights.
The Germanwings frequent flyer programme, the ‘Boomerang Club’, will continue to exist independently of the ‘Miles & More’ partnership. Before each flight, passengers who have both a ‘Miles & More’ and a ‘Boomerang Club’ card will be able to select the frequent flyer program from which they wish to collect miles.ç
source: traveldailynews.com
Airline bmi British Midland is to merge its frequent flyer scheme, Diamond Club, with the Miles & More programme of new owner, Lufthansa.
It follows the integration of Miles & More with other Lufthansa subsidiaries including Brussels Airlines, Swiss and Austrian Airlines.
Lufthansa took control of bmi in 2009 after Sir Michael Bishop, the former chairman, exercised an option to sell his controlling stake at a pre-agreed price.
The German airline considered a sale of bmi but it did not attract a sufficiently high price from any interested buyers so began a restructuring scheme.
source: Telegraph.co.uk
Lufthansa is to join British Airways and Air France in revamping its first class cabins ahead of the World Cup in May.
The new first class package will debut in May, ahead of the airline’s inaugural A380 flight to Johannesburg, carrying the German World Cup team.
Lufthansa has confirmed that the new first and business class menus will be designed by Michelin-starred chef Holger Stromberg, the chef to Germany’s national football team.
Despite several airlines opting to reduce their first-class offerings in the wake of the financial crisis, some appear to have opted to innovate to survive.
source: Independent
Lufthansa is set to become one of the world’s first airlines to mix biofuel with traditional kerosene on commercial flights as carriers seek ways to cut soaring fuel costs.
The German flag carrier will start running its engines on some flights on a mix of biofuel and kerosene within two years. Aircraft account for an estimated 2-4 percent of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, which scientists say could cause global temperatures to rise, triggering widespread disease, famine, flooding and drought.
Experts say global aviation emissions could reach 2.4 billion tonnes in 2050, which would be 15-20 percent of all CO2 permitted under a global agreement and a nearly four-fold increase on current levels.
source: Economic Times
