Eurowings and easyjet consider European partnership

In a continued drive to increase its presence in the low-cost sector of the European market, Lufthansa’s low-cost subsidiary has been eyeing up a potential partnership with easyJet, Lufthansa Group chairman and CEO Carsten Spohr told German magazine Der Spiegel, saying that “We can cooperate with other airlines very actively. EasyJet had also shown interest in the past to cooperate with the Lufthansa Group.”
He continued “We also need consolidation in the European low-cost carrier market and Eurowings should become an important part of that.” Back in June Spohr declared that Lufthansa would continue to be a driving force for consolidation in Europe, stating that “The big five airlines in Europe have a 43% market share. The big five carriers in the US have 90%. I definitely think there are too many airlines in Europe.”
Spohr, however, is also concerned that Lufthansa is at a turning point as, for the first time in the airline’s history, it has failed to create any growth over a number of years. With the current cost structure, Spohr indicated that it has become nearly impossible to find a new cost-efficient route for the German-based carrier. “Good pay [for employees], good working conditions and good career perspectives. All these don’t fit together anymore [with Lufthansa’s current cost-structure],” he said. This has also become part of the airline’s reluctance to give in to their pilots’ demands over pay and early retirement policies. There is a great deal of concern among the pilots as Germanwings will be based out of Austria and that pilots for the low-cost airline will be both paid less, and also kept from joining in any collective bargaining.
Spohr believes that airlines should operate on a number of different platforms, enabling them to offer the complete range of options from premium level travel to the low-cost option. Eurowings operated its maiden flight on February 1st from Hamburg to Prague with its first 162-seat Airbus A320, and will launch intercontinental services Oct. 25th this year.