Set to enter Europe’s premier league
New Germanwings' innovative brand and product concept will set new standards

“We have set ourselves ambitious
objectives with the new
Germanwings,” Christoph Franz
told journalists at the press conference
in Cologne. “We want to
give our customers a choice of
attractive offers that are setting
new standards in Europe. We
want to be commercially successful
and to put an end to lossmaking
in this segment.”
While that might, admittedly,
sound like an impossible task,
the Lufthansa CEO and Chairman
said he was optimistic that
the goals would be reached. In
the last seven weeks, he added,
Lufthansa had succeeded in
developing a convincing product.
Along with Lufthansa German
Airlines CEO Carsten
Spohr and Thomas Winkelmann,
spokesman for the Executive
Board of Germanwings,
Christoph Franz presented the
airline’s new brand presence to
the media.
On 1 January, Lufthansa’s Direct
Services unit and Germanwings
will be amalgamated.
The market launch of the new
Germanwings product is
scheduled for 1 July 2013. From
then on, Lufthansa aircraft will
also be gradually refitted and
transferred to the new airline.
In future, the new Germanwings
will offer three different
Economy fares: Basic, Smart
and Best. Best is directed at
business travellers and discerning
leisure travellers. This allround
package includes a seat
of one’s choice in rows one to
three, a generous seat pitch of
32 inches, an empty middle seat
in a row of three seats, and reserved
space in the overhead
bins. Other components are à la
carte catering, a free baggage
allowance of two items weighing
23 kg each, Priority Checkin
and Priority Boarding, fastlane
access through security,
lounge access and higher
mileage credits.
In a first phase, the Best fare will
be available on all domestic German
routes as well as on flights
to Germanwings’ core markets
in Europe, in other words, Austria,
Switzerland, Belgium, Russia,
France and the UK. Smart is
the new standard fare and corresponds
to a conventional,
high-quality Economy product.
With this fare, rows four to ten
are reserved for passengers,
and here too the seat pitch is 32
inches. Snacks and alcohol-free
drinks are served, and passengers
have a free baggage allowance
of 23 kg.
Basic, the lowest fare, is designed
for price-conscious customers.
Fares start at 33 euros
one-way and can only be
booked online. This fare corresponds
to a classic low-cost
product. Passengers who
choose this fare forego free
catering and a free baggage allowance.
However, extras can
be added to the Basic and Smart
fares when booking tickets.
More choice
“The new Germanwings thus
offers fares to suit individual
customer needs,” Thomas
Winkelmann explained.
In future, the new Germanwings
will fly to 110 destinations in Europe.
With a fleet of about 90 aircraft,
it expects to carry up to 20
million passengers per year.
The airline will also receive a
new logo in keeping with the
new brand and product concept.
The core element will be a
stylised letter “W” in mulberry
and yellow, and the name
Lufthansa Group will be emblazoned
in silver on the fuselage.
All the airline’s aircraft will
gradually be repainted. “We
will, of course, do that when it is
less expensive, by which I mean
not in summer,” Winkelmann
admitted. “And we naturally
want to respond more strongly
to customer requirements, for
example, by offering cheaper
rates for calls to call centres, by
expanding our distribution
channels and by upgrading the
value of our product. We are still
aiming to keep costs low. We
call it low-cost flying 3.0. And we
are setting the bar high,” he
added.
The new Germanwings will exploit
the best of both worlds, in
other words, Lufthansa maintenance
and overhaul, LSG catering,
excellently trained cockpit
crew and an established sales
structure. At the same time, having
a standardised fleet, new,
low-emission aircraft and simple,
standardised processes on
board and on the ground will ensure
the cost-effectiveness of
the airline’s operations. “The
new Germanwings will thus
make a major contribution towards
our ambitious SCORE targets,”
explained Spohr.
Significant role
Within the Lufthansa Group,
the new Germanwings will gain
significantly in importance. “It
will account for ten per cent of
sales in the core passenger
business, transport 20 per cent
of passengers and fly 30 per
cent of our short and mediumrange
aircraft,” said Spohr,
adding that he was more than
optimistic that the concept
would succeed. “After all, we
have had a good experience
with the more than 300,000
passengers who have flown
Germanwings on former
Lufthansa routes. No passengers
switched allegiance to other
airlines after the routes were
transferred. These passengers
were very satisfied. With its new
product, Germanwings is thus
entering the premier league of
European airlines.”
Mirjam