Andrzej Jeziorski/MUNICH
GERMAN flag carrier Lufthansa and All Nippon Airways (ANA)have signed a codeshare agreement in a first step towards full Star Alliance membership for the Japanese carrier.
ANA is already in advanced talks about a similar agreement with Star Alliance partner United Airlines. While Lufthansa is not confirming that the deal has been signed, airline sources say that frequent flyer schemes will be harmonised from 1 May, with ANA moving into the Lufthansa terminal at Frankfurt. Lufthansa has already moved into the ANA terminal in Tokyo. The sources add that reports in Tokyo suggest that ANA "has a strong interest in joining the Star Alliance".
The Alliance partners, which also include Air Canada, SAS, Thai Airways International and Varig, have said that there is room for more Asian partner airlines. Lufthansa adds that the potential of the Japanese market alone is strong enough to justify a partner from Japan in the region.
The Alliance partners say that there is still a possibility that additional Asian partners such as Singapore Airlines could be brought aboard - the airline already has a bilateral agreement with Lufthansa.
Meanwhile, Lufthansa is in discussions with the Israeli airline El Al about increased co-operation, including codesharing.
On 4 March, Joel Feldschu, El Al's president, and Josef Bogdanski, Lufthansa's regional vice-president for sales and services, met in Tel Aviv to discuss possible co-operation.
The plan envisages the use by El Al of Lufthansa's hubs in Frankfurt and Munich, as well as co-ordination of timetables and merging of the two airlines' frequent flyer programmes.
The meeting follows the decision by Lufthansa Cargo to use El Al flights from the Israeli capital to Germany rather than operate its own aircraft.
Source: Flight International
