Eurowings eyes partnerships with other LCCs
Eurowings (EW, Dusseldorf) is mulling entering into partnerships with other low-cost carriers in order to offer its passengers more travel options, Chief Commercial Officer Oliver Wagners has been quoted as saying by Reuters.
He added that the carrier is looking at cooperation with both short-haul LCCs which could feed Eurowings' long-haul network, as well as with carriers offering long-haul flights which could, in turn, be supported by Eurowings' European flights.
The move would follow similar steps taken by other European LCCs, affecting mostly transatlantic services. Last year, easyJet signed partnerships with Norwegian, WestJet, Loganair, Corsair International, Neos, Aurigny Air Services, and La Compagnie, allowing travel on a single itinerary mostly via London Gatwick, Milan Malpensa, and Paris Orly.
For its part, Ryanair entered into a similar agreement with Air Europa last year, providing connecting travel through Madrid Barajas. Recently, the Irish LCC also announced it will offer a similar option with Aer Lingus through Dublin Int'l.
Wagner did not disclose any potential partners nor any timelines.
According to the ch-aviation capacity module, the largest Eurowings bases are currently Dusseldorf (770 weekly departures), Cologne/Bonn (432 weekly departures), Stuttgart Echterdingen (397 weekly departures), Hamburg Helmut Schmidt (379 weekly departures), and Berlin Tegel (328 weekly departures). The low-cost unit of Lufthansa Group plans to consolidate most of its long-haul services at Dusseldorf from Winter 2018, dropping such flights from the nearby Cologne/Bonn airport.
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