The new Germanwings was created in 2013 to take over Lufthansa's point-to-point routes - mainly in Europe - which were heavily loss-making at the time. A leaner cost structure, a dedicated fleet of some sixty aircraft (mainly Airbus A319s and A320s) based at seven German airports, the largest of which are Cologne/Bonn, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Berlin Tegel and Stuttgart.
The result is positive. In 2015, the Lufthansa Group subsidiary managed to break even on its short/medium-haul point-to-point routes, after at least a decade of losses.
Following the transfer of all short- and medium-haul routes - with the exception of Frankfurt and Munich, the Group's two hubs - from Lufthansa to Germanwings between 2013 and the beginning of 2015, the past year has seen a new development for Eurowings with the launch of the launch of long-haul routes departing from Cologne/Bonn.
The Caribbean, the United States, Dubai and Thailand were the first countries to be directly linked by Eurowings' Airbus A330s, of which there are seven in all. As on the short-haul network, the aircraft offer a dual-class product These include a low-cost economy class (sold on two fares, BASIC and SMART) and a product equivalent to Lufthansa's Economy Premium class. The seats and configuration are in fact the same as in the German airline's premium economy class, with a seat pitch of 115 cm. In the middle of the year, Lufthansa's management indicated that the long-haul network was generating strong demand and would also break even, without giving any further details. The apparently successful objective is thelower operating costs of 40% compared with conventional Lufthansa operations.
Between January and September, Eurowings carried on all its routes 13.96 million passengers This represents an increase of 8.3% over the previous year, with an average load factor of 80%. The number of passengers on long-haul routes reached 417,000, with a record load factor of 91.9%. In 2017, the long-haul concept could be extended to certain routes from Berlin Tegel and Hamburg.
An interesting experience for Air France: Germany is particularly sensitive to brand quality. After being greeted with scepticism in certain traditional business markets such as Düsseldorf and Hamburg, the Germanwings/Eurowings brand has become established. According to a study by consultants Rogator, which assesses the impact of Ryanair's competition on German air traffic, Germanwings/Eurowings enjoys brand recognition of 86% - compared with 96% for Lufthansa and 79% for Ryanair. Proof that the airline is fully accepted by all markets. This is all the more true given that, with Lufthansa, we can combine major advantages such as frequent flyer programmes and theaccess to a lounge for the "Best" tariff.
Frankfurt airport has just announced that Ryanair is to start flying into the heart of the Lufthansa network in 2017. Ryanair would base two aircraft next year and serve four to five destinations on the Iberian peninsula. As a result, Eurowings could further extend its influence. The management of Lufthansa has announced that the point-to-point airline could make its debut in Frankfurt in 2018, complementing Lufthansa. As Air France wishes with its new company " Light "at Roissy…
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EUROWINGS IN FIGURES
*Salzburg from January 2017, Palma from spring 2017 |
