26 May 2011

LH Exits MXP With Tail Between Its Legs. Puts On Brave Face

Lufthansa's brave Italian experiment has sadly bit the dust.

Sensing an opportunity to pick up traffic from the then floundering Alitalia - it stationed specific aircraft at the further away from centre Italian airport Malpensa. MXP.

To read the whole story go to Anna.Aero


But I love this quote

"Lufthansa Executive Board member Carsten Spohr, who is responsible for Lufthansa’s passenger business, commented: “We are the most successful foreign airline in Italy and we want to consolidate our position. By shifting capacities from Lufthansa Italia to our core brand Lufthansa and strengthening Air Dolomiti, we will be able to offer our customers an even higher quality network of services via our hubs. The link between ‘Lufthansa’ and ‘Italia’ will remain as close as it has been up to now.” Michael Kraus, CEO and President of Air Dolomiti will be responsible for realigning Lufthansa’s and Air Dolomiti’s presence in the North Italian market."

I think both Ryanair and Easyjet would dispute that claim.

So who will be the winners and losers on this? Frankly I believe that Ryanair and Easyjet are both winners. The number of Italians at Stansted yesterday was amazing. Indeed the place was pretty busy even in the off-peak afternoon hours. And remember that many of the German services were not operating yesterday.

Cheers

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