Lufthansa Make Sustainability Index

Lufthansa have announced that they have once again been included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index. The Index lists companies whose strategies take into account social and environmental criteria as well as economic criteria. Lufthansa have improved their rating in the three dimensions of corporate sustainability, social, environmental and economic, and are one of only three airlines represented in the Index.

Their placement in the Index means that Lufthansa can be regarded as one of the top ten percent of companies who take a leadership role in terms of sustainability. The Group were first listed in the Index in 1999 but this year they scored their highest overall number of points.

Lufthansa Strategic Equity Investment

Deutsche Lufthansa AG and SN Airholding SA/NV, the parent company of Brussels Airlines, are in constructive negotiations over an equity investment in SN Airholding. The intention of the negotiations is a collaboration with Brussels Airlines as self-dependently operating airline within the Lufthansa affiliated group. Brussels Airlines has not been involved in an alliance to date. It operates services from the Brussels hub within Europe and also specialises in flights to Africa.

Lufthansa plans to initially acquire 45 per cent of SN Airholding at a proposed price of EUR 65m in the course of a capital increase. After two years and beyond Lufthansa would be authorised to exercise an acquisition option for the remaining 55 per cent. The price of this option is linked to the prospective performance of Brussels Airlines.

Over the next few weeks, Lufthansa intends to examine SN Airholding and conclude negotiations as to the contractual details. The planned equity investment in SN Airholding is yet to be approved by the Supervisory Board of Lufthansa, the Board and shareholders of SN Airholding and the antitrust clearance.

Both companies will inform about the progress of the negotiations in due time and have agreed on maintaining silence until then.

Official Press Release Lufthansa dated 28th August 2008.

Lufthansa Named Best Airline

Lufthansa has been voted the best airline in Europe in the 2008 World Airline Awards, beating 59 other carriers. More than 15 million passengers took part in the survey, conducted by the UK-based aviation research agency Skytrax over an eleven-month period from August 2007 to June 2008.

In the Best in Region category, passengers were asked to rate their level of satisfaction with a total of 59 European airlines. Respondents evaluated more than 35 different aspects in the categories Ground Service, Onboard Product and Onboard Staff Service. Lufthansa impressed passengers with its fast and innovative check-in options, the speed and convenience of its baggage handling and the friendly service provided by staff. The airline also scored top marks for its excellent inflight service, notably its comfortable seats, inflight entertainment programme and the choice and quality of the menus and drinks served on board.

Overall, Skytrax evaluated 168 carriers for this year’s World Airline Awards.

Official Press Release Lufthansa dated 20th August 2008.

Spanish Air Crash

A Spanair plane carrying 172 passenger has crashed on take off after smoke was seen billowing out of one of the engines. The aircraft was due to fly from Madrid’s Barajas airport at 13:00 local time (11:00 GMT) to the Canary Islands and was carrying mainly holiday makers.

Aena, the Spanish airport authority have stated the flight was due to take off at 13:00, however for a yet undisclosed reason it was late leaving the airport which is based 8 miles (13km) outside of Madrid.

Spanair, owned by SAS of Scandinavia, issued a statement saying that flight number JK 5022 had been involved in an accident at 1445 local time. SAS later said the accident happened at 1423.

The flight was being jointly run with the German airline Lufthansa, which said it was investigating whether German passengers were on the flight.

Spanair’s helpline is on +34 800 400 200

Lufthansa and TAM Offer Joint Flights to São Paulo

Lufthansa is expanding the services it offers to customers flying to Brazil and launching code share flights in partnership with the Brazilian carrier TAM. From 18 August, Lufthansa and TAM passengers will be able to book any of the flights operated jointly by either carrier between Frankfurt or Munich and São Paulo. Customers will then have a choice of 21 codeshare flights per week between Germany and Brazil. In addition, both carriers will offer connecting flights to their respective domestic destinations on a codeshare basis. Lufthansa passengers booked on flights to São Paulo will thus be able to travel seamlessly to a further four destinations in Brazil. Special transfer counters have been installed at São Paulo airport by TAM to make changing easier. Since February 2008, members of both airlines’ frequent flyer programmes – “Miles & More” and “Fidelidade” – have also been able to redeem miles with the partner airline and book award flights with either carrier.

“Lufthansa is increasing its services to and from Brazil in cooperation with TAM,” said Götz Ahmelmann, Vice President Alliances, Strategy and Subsidiaries, Lufthansa Passenger Airlines. “The codeshare agreement with our partner TAM will provide our passengers with seamless connections to further domestic destinations via Frankfurt and São Paulo. Our passengers will be able to reach these airports conveniently with only one check-in at the start of their journey.”

“Linking Lufthansa and TAM’s schedules will increase the benefits for our customers. Moreover, we are stimulating growth in air traffic between Germany and Brazil,” says Paulo Castello Branco, Vice President Planning und Alliances TAM.

The codeshare flights, which can be booked with immediate effect, offer passengers greater flexibility and a wider choice of connections. Lufthansa serves São Paulo daily – from Frankfurt with a Boeing 747-400 and from Munich with an Airbus A340-300. Since November 2007, TAM has also been operating a daily Airbus A340-500 service between São Paulo and Frankfurt. All arrivals in São Paulo are scheduled in the early morning to make full use of the business day. Lufthansa will now include the TAM destinations Rio de Janeiro, Porto Alegre, Curitiba as well as the capital city Brasilia in its timetable. Further domestic destinations in Brazil are due to be operated shortly on a codeshare basis. In return, TAM will offer its passengers onward flights from Frankfurt to Berlin, Hamburg, Düsseldorf and Munich. As soon as the codeshare services are launched, it is planned that passengers will be able to use the partner’s lounges at airports.

TAM Airlines (TAM Linhas Aereas) is Brazil’s largest carrier, with a fleet of 108 aircraft. In addition to its dense domestic network, TAM operates numerous routes within Latin America as well as to the United States and Europe.

Official Press release (abridged) Lufthansa dated 11 August 2008.

Lufthansa Agree Pay Rise for 34,000 Staff

Lufthansa and the ver.di trade union reached a new agreement today at their pay negotiations. From 1 July 2008, the 34,000 on the ground staff are to receive a pay rise of 5.1 per cent and a further increase of 2.3 per cent from 1 July 2009. Additionally, the employees are to get a one-off payment, including a performance-related component depending on their business segment, of up to 2.4 per cent of their annual remuneration. The pay settlement is for 21 months, ending on 28 February 2010. It means in effect that Lufthansa is raising the individual pay of employees by 4.2 per cent over a period of twelve months.

A similar offer is in the offing for cabin crew, taking into account the specifics of their working conditions. It is, however provisional on pay parity for cabin crew staff and pending agreement between Lufthansa, ver.di and UFO, the flight attendants’ union. The pay agreement with UFO expires on 31 December 2008.

In the aftermath of strike action over several days, Lufthansa Executive Board Member Human Resources Stefan Lauer said the pay settlement is a compromise at the bearable limit. “It is certainly not painless for either side. It is, all in all, only acceptable in view of the duration of the settlement and the performance-related one-off payment. It is imperative, however, that the increased costs be compensated by higher productivity. Resolution of the pay dispute on their own initiative by Lufthansa and ver.di is an important message to our customers as well as our staff and to Germany as an economic base. We will go to every length to resume flight operations quickly for our customers in the customary reliability and quality.”

Official Press Release Lufthansa dated 1st August 2008.

Lufthansa Adjusts Fuel Surcharge

In recent weeks, crude oil and kerosene prices have continued to rise. In response to this development, Lufthansa is adjusting its fuel surcharges on its flights. The fuel surcharge on domestic German and intra-European routes will increase by three euros to 27 euros per flight segment. On long-haul routes the corresponding fuel surcharge will be raised by five euros to 97 euros per flight segment. The increases will apply to all Lufthansa tickets issued on or after 17 July 2008.

Lufthansa last increased its fuel surcharges on 16 June 2008 – on European flights by three euros to 24 euros and on long-haul flights by ten euros to 92 euros.

Lufthansa continually monitors oil prices and will make any future adjustments to the fuel surcharge dependent on further trends in the price of jet fuel.

Official Press Release Lufthansa dated 11th July 2008.