Lufthansa Italia : LH : DLH

Lufthansa Italia is also planning to add long haul routes to its current network with a formal announcement of destinations and aircraft expected later this year. It is however believed that they will use either Airbus A340 or A330. On 17th June 2009, Heike Birlenbach announced that Lufthansa Italia had been registered at Milan's Chamber of Commerce as an Italian company.

LH Chairman and CEO Wolfgang Mayrhuber has said that LH wants to play a central role at MXP in the future.

Jeannot a écrit:Lufhtansa Italia abandonnerait la liaison Milan Malpensa - Rome Fiumicino à partir du premier mars.

Lufthansa changes its Italy strategy

Lufthansa and Air Dolomiti will take over role of the Lufthansa Italia brand – Air Dolomiti to expand route network

Frankfurt / Milan, 23 May 2011 – Lufthansa is reshaping its presence in the Italian market in order to focus on its strong position there. To that end, Lufthansa’s current alignment in Italy with its core brand Lufthansa, Lufthansa Italia and the regional airline Air Dolomiti will be streamlined.
The Lufthansa Italia brand, which was launched in 2008, will only be retained until the end of the summer timetable on 29 October 2011. The Airbus A319 aircraft currently operated by Lufthansa Italia will be deployed elsewhere within the Lufthansa Group from the start of the 2011/2012 winter timetable. At the same time, Lufthansa foresees double-digit growth in its offering to Italy, which it already serves frequently from its Frankfurt and Munich hubs. Air Dolomiti will also increase flight frequencies to Germany in its route network, which focuses on connecting the major economic centres in Northern Italy with Lufthansa’s Munich base. Together, Lufthansa and Air Dolomiti currently serve 19 destinations in Italy.
Lufthansa CEO and Chairman Christoph Franz: "Bundling our services under the Lufthansa and Air Dolomiti brands will give us a clearer and more streamlined presence in the Italian market. When we launched Lufthansa Italia three years ago, we filled a gap that had emerged in Milan following Alitalia’s withdrawal from Malpensa and the end of our cooperation with Air One. Our service is highly appreciated and the response from passengers in Italy is excellent. However, given the slump in prices on European routes and the competition, it was extremely difficult to establish a profitable European network under a separate brand. It therefore makes sense to focus the Lufthansa Group’s offering on connecting the connecting the Italian market to the Group’s hubs.
Lufthansa Executive Board member Carsten Spohr, who is responsible for Lufthansa’s passenger business, commented: “We are the most successful foreign airline in Italy and we want to consolidate our position. By shifting capacities from Lufthansa Italia to our core brand Lufthansa and strengthening Air Dolomiti, we will be able to offer our customers an even higher quality network of services via our hubs. The link between ‘Lufthansa’ and ‘Italia’ will remain as close as it has been up to now.” Michael Kraus, CEO and President of Air Dolomiti will be responsible for realigning Lufthansa’s and Air Dolomiti’s presence in the North Italian market.
Thomas Eggert took over as Sales Director in Milan on 15 April 2011. An experienced airline manager, he began his career at Lufthansa more than 20 years ago in Milan, at that time in Lufthansa’s Cargo division. Since then, he has held various positions within the Lufthansa Group in Asia and Europe. Prior to taking up his current appointment he was Head of Corporate Development at Lufthansa Cargo in Frankfurt.

Germany will not grant Middle Eastern carrier Emirates rights to service additional cities within the country, the latest development in a spat over access to German-Gulf routes.

There is no need to extend the existing bilateral air transport agreement between Germany and the United Arab Emirates, said a German transport ministry spokesman.

This agreement limits the airline's number of landing points in Germany to four. Emirates would be free to add Stuttgart and Berlin, said the spokesman, but would then need to give up two of its existing destinations. He added that the arrangement is based "on the size of the mutual home markets".

The vast majority of UAE passenger flights operate from Abu Dhabi and Dubai and, to a lesser extent, Sharjah. Germany's flag carrier [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] flies to Abu Dhabi and Dubai from Frankfurt and Munich.
"We are [still] hopeful that our long-standing request will receive German government support," responds Emirates. "The economic case for these flights [to Berlin and Stuttgart] has never been stronger."

While German chancellor Angela Merkel supported the Emirates order for an additional 32 [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] A380s in Berlin last year, the transport ministry said the existing bilateral arrangement was "already very liberal".
Although Emirates can only fly to four destinations within Germany but there are no limits to the frequency of flights or what model of aircraft is deployed. In other words, capacity is unlimited.

Emirates' business model is to collect long-haul passengers from regional airports and ferry them through Dubai to their destinations - but not to use central hubs in different world regions.

The airline has not indicated whether it will expand capacity to its current German destinations, possibly with the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]. It serves Munich, Frankfurt, Dusseldorf and Hamburg.
"We are constantly considering a wide range of commercial opportunities and Germany is one of Emirates' most important commercial markets," says an Emirates spokesman. "We are sure wherever the Emirates A380 are deployed, they will be welcomed by our passengers."
Munich airport has confirmed that it is equipping its Terminal 1 stand 113 - which Emirates is using, among other carriers - for the A380. The decision to install a third passenger bridge by the end of this year was taken earlier this month.