SIA and Lufthansa Group forge extensive partnership involving JV on key routes

Singapore Airlines (SIA) and Lufthansa have signed a wide-ranging partnership agreement that will see the two airline groups operating key routes between Singapore and Europe on a joint-venture basis, in addition to significantly expanding codeshare ties and deepening commercial co-operation. Flights between Singapore and both Frankfurt and Munich, as well as flights between Singapore and Zurich, are to be operated under revenue-sharing arrangements. New SIA-operated flights between Singapore and Düsseldorf, which are to be launched in July 2016, will also be covered under such arrangements. The two airline groups also intend to co-operate in key markets in Europe, Southeast Asia and Australia, co-ordinating schedules to provide customers more convenient connections between route networks, offering joint fare promotions, aligning corporate programmes to strengthen the proposition to corporate customers, and exploring enhancements to existing frequent-flyer programme ties. In addition to SIA and Lufthansa, the agreement includes SIA subsidiary SilkAir, and Lufthansa subsidiaries Austrian Airlines and Swiss.