Lufthansa and Cathay Pacific announced a partnership yesterday that will go beyond mere codesharing.
Here is how Lufthansa describes the new partnership:
- Cathay Pacific Airways, Lufthansa, Swiss and Austrian Airlines, sign code-share and frequent flyer agreement
- Shared flights will mean numerous benefits for passengers
- Connecting flights via Hong Kong to Australia and New Zealand under same flight number in future
What routes will the Lufthansa / Cathay Pacific Partnership Include?
- Austrian, Lufthansa, and SWISS passengers traveling from Frankfurt, Munich, Vienna, and Zurich can connect to Australia or New Zealand on Cathay Pacific codeshares (Auckland, Cairns, Melbourne, Sydney)
- Cathay Pacific passengers can connect on Austrian, Lufthansa or SWISS codeshares to 14 European destinations from Vienna, Frankfurt, and Zurich:
- Austrian Airlines
Between Vienna and:- Frankfurt
- Zurich
- Düsseldorf
- Lufthansa
Between Frankfurt and:- Berlin
- Brussels
- Budapest
- Dresden
- Hannover
- Hamburg
- Munich
- Nuremberg
- Oslo
- Stuttgart
- SWISS
Between Zurich and:- Berlin
- Brussels
- Florence
- Geneva
- Hamburg
- Stuttgart
- Venice
- Austrian Airlines
You can read statements from the Cathay Pacific and Lufthansa CEO here. Longhaul routes between Europe and Hong Kong are not part of this codeshare agreement.
Reciprocal Frequent Flyer Benefits: Earn and Redeem Miles on Codeshares
Cathay Pacific’s press release details the reciprocal frequent flyer benefits that will come:
Today’s co-operation agreement also extends to both airlines’ frequent flyer programmes. Passengers who are members of Cathay Pacific’s travel and lifestyle rewards programme, Asia Miles and Lufthansa Group’s loyalty programme, Miles and More, will be eligible to earn and redeem miles when travelling on the above codeshare routes. Members of Cathay Pacific’s loyalty programme, Marco Polo Club, can also earn Club Points when travelling on codeshare flights marketed by Cathay Pacific and operated by Lufthansa Group.
Thus, it appears members of each program will be able to earn and redeem points on codeshare routes only. Still, this opens up great Cathay Pacific award space to Miles & More members. Marco Polo Club members will also have a much easier time connecting in Europe, no longer having to connect in Helsinki, Madrid, or London on oneworld partners.
CONCLUSION
I’ll analyze this news in the context of alliances later today. I do agree with Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr’s statement that this agreement “strengthens our global network of strategic partnerships and further improves our airlines’ offering on Asian routes in the interest of our passengers.”
I’m surprised given Lufthansa is a member of star alliance, which has several Asian carriers already that also flies to Australia and New Zealand (i.e. Singapore Airlines, ANA, Thai Airways, Air New Zealand, Air China, Air India, etc.)
Do you think the future will mostly consist of strategic partnerships amongst airlines rather than 3 or 4 worldwide alliances?
Hi Joey, I hope I answered the question in my follow-up post. Check it out!
http://liveandletsfly.boardingarea.com/2017/03/28/lufthansa-cathay-pacific-partnership-strategy/
Not all that surprising after CX concluded a similar arrangement with STAR partner AC a couple of months ago. In both cases CX is flying into a country where OW is weak or non-existent for the purposes of feed or onward domestic connections. In Germany AB is a shadow of itself and in Canada WS has no true premium cabin to meet the needs of F and J CX customers. At the HKG end CX offers more options for onward or inbound flights than STAR partners. Not to mention CX is facing financial challenges as the M3 drains off customers from all cabins, and LH is responding as best it can to the same attack on its customer base in Europe. Not sure this foretells the end of alliances, but merely a rationalization in certain parts of the world. (Though AA’s bid for equity in China Southern suggests it wants a stronger link throughout that part of the world beyond what CX can offer…and introduces some of the same cross alliance questions visa a vis SkyTeam.)
Any reason why the codeshare flights for arriving CX pay are limited to a few cities within Europe? Would there also not be benefits for CX passengers to connect to Lufthansa’s destinations in, say, Africa?
I would ask the gentleman to give them some time.