Lufthansa is to partner with fractional ownership operator NetJets to give premium passengers the opportunity to charter business jets.
The service, to be known as Lufthansa Private Jet, will offer flights from the carrier's Munich hub as well as point-to-point services. The two companies have identified 1,000 European airports that will be accessible from Munich.
As an example of the prices involved, Lufthansa says a flight from Munich to Lugano in Switzerland will cost between €4,550 ($5,600) and €5,650 depending on the aircraft type, while a flight from Dublin to Billund in Denmark will cost €9,530. Further passengers will cost an extra €300 each on the seven-seat Cessna Citation Excel and Bravo jets that will operate the services. Customers will have to give at least 24h notification prior to departure.
Lufthansa chief executive, Wolfgang Mayrhuber, stresses that the charter venture involves minimal risk to the German carrier. "There is no real danger of running into red figures. The risks are low, the incentives high." For the first few months, the partners expect one or two flights a day with the new service and Mayrhuber says the venture "will be economical after a certain time".
Explaining the decision to launch the new product, Mayrhuber says that the days of offering uniform services to passengers are long gone. NetJets chief executive, Richard Santulli, says: "What is different about Lufthansa is that they realise most airlines try to sell a commodity product. Lufthansa has made people realise there is a difference – this is not a commodity product."
Munich was chosen partly because it can offer fast connections, around 30min according to Lufthansa, and also has more free slots than the German carrier's Frankfurt hub. However, if the venture proves successful, Mayrhuber says that the concept will be extended to other airports.
COLIN BAKER MUNICH
Source: Airline Business
