At the ITB trade fair last March, Karl Ulrich Garnardt, CEO of Eurowings, revealed his company's ambitious expansion plan. According to him, of the 180 airlines in Europe, only a handful of groups or companies will survive, as market consolidation has already begun. And, of course, Eurowings intends to be on the winning side. "We have already cleaned up our group by consolidating Germanwings and Eurowings into a single entity. This means we can now focus on growing our brand and profits."he said on the occasion.
With this in mind, the Lufthansa subsidiary's main objective for 2017 is toincrease its presence in Germany and Austria, Palma de Mallorca and Brussels, where Brussels Airlines will be integrated into the Eurowings entity. To underpin this expansion, theAgreement between Lufthansa and Etihad for the transfer of part of Airberlin's Airbus A320 fleet will give Eurowings a fleet of 33 new aircraft. These aircraft will enable Eurowings to set up new bases, while increasing the number of aircraft on existing routes.
Cologne and Stuttgart will be the first to benefit from these additional aircraft, with eight new aircraft for the first base and seven for the second. Hamburg will receive four aircraft, as will Munich, one of Lufthansa's main hubs where Eurowings has set up a new base. "With our four aircraft in Munich, we will offer flights on 30 routes, including Paris."says Karl Ulrich Garnardt. This translates into an average of 12 to 14 daily flights from the Bavarian metropolis. In 2018, the airline should also be setting up operations at its parent company's other hub, Frankfurt, to counter the growth of Ryanair. Outside Germany, Eurowings is strengthening its position in Vienna with three additional aircraft and Palma with two more, pending possible synergies with Brussels Airlines.
On the long-haul front, half a dozen new destinations are planned from Cologne/Bonn, including Las Vegas and Seattle in the United States, Montego Bay in Jamaica and Windhoek in Namibia. In time, the airline also plans to offer long-haul flights from other airports such as Hamburg, Berlin and Stuttgart. Here again the aim is to counter competition from long-haul low-cost airlines. In total, Eurowings is offering this summer 70% more intercontinental capacity.
Another area in which Eurowings wants to stand out from the competition is digital. With the MakeMyWay programme, Eurowings is playing the technology card to offer its customers a virtually made-to-measure trip. WingsConnect is now the online programme available on board aircraft, with three different packages offering à la carte services, including in-flight film viewing. Forty aircraft were equipped at the end of May.
Finally, the carrier is launching a package of 10 pre-purchased flights at €699 or €1,499, offering a guaranteed price per individual journey to one or more intra-German destinations. The package could eventually include European routes. "As a quality service provider, we want to inspire our passengers by offering them innovations that enable us to constantly adapt to their needs. Always with this question in mind: What makes Eurowings the perfect travel partner for the passenger?"explained Oliver Wagner, the company's Chief Commercial Officer.
