Lufthansa, SIA launch code sharing flights to Jakarta

Lufthansa, SIA launch code sharing flights to Jakarta

JAKARTA (JP): Lufthansa German Airlines and Singapore Airlines
(SIA) launched a strategic alliance on Monday by introducing code
sharing flights in a bid to maintain their market share in
crisis-hit Indonesia.

Lufthansa's country manager here, Carlos M. Heinemann, said
the code sharing flights were part of his company's efforts to
keep its commitment to provide seven flights a week from
Frankfurt to Jakarta, although the airline itself will only run
four.

"This alliance allows us to continue providing seven flights a
week to our consumers. Starting on Oct. 25, we are offering four
direct flights linking Jakarta-Frankfurt and three code sharing
flights in cooperation with Singapore Airlines," he told The
Jakarta Post after announcing the deal.

Under the alliance, Lufthansa will offer seven flights per
week linking Jakarta-Frankfurt via Singapore, comprising of four
direct flights operated by Lufthansa every Monday, Tuesday,
Thursday and Saturday and three code sharing flights operated by
SIA every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Passengers flying on
these latter days will fly SIA on the Jakarta-Singapore leg and
join the Lufthansa Singapore-Frankfurt flight for the long haul
leg to Germany.

The code sharing flight will be offered at a discounted price
of US$510 per passenger between Nov. 2 and Nov. 15. Thereafter
the fare will be set at $623.

Heinemann said the offer would also help the Indonesian
government to lure more tourists back to the country.

"It's bad if consumers hear that we are reducing flights and
any such decision would worsen Indonesia's image in European
countries, which is already not very good. By doing this we can
continue helping the Indonesian government by bringing European
passengers here," he said.

Heinemann said that there was a 30 percent decline in the
number of tourists from Germany to Indonesia in the first half of
this year.

"It's bad because German travelers usually stay for a long
time, they spend at least two weeks here, and their expenditure
here is very good," he said adding that German tourists to
Indonesia had reached an average of 350,000 visitors a year
before the crisis and unrest damaged the country's tourist
industry.

Meanwhile, Singapore Airlines manager here, Vijendran Alfreds,
said that SIA had no plans to reduce the frequency of its
Jakarta-Singapore service despite a slight decrease in passenger
numbers.

"Yes, we are suffering a little bit and yes there was a slight
decrease in passenger numbers in the first months of this year.
But it has improved over the past three months so we have no plan
to reduce our service here because Indonesia is very important
for us."

Alfreds said the SIA load factor was currently ranging between
60 percent and 70 percent. The airline currently provides seven
daily flights linking Singapore-Jakarta, 10 weekly flights
linking Singapore-Surabaya and three daily flights linking
Singapore-Denpasar.

He added that the two airlines are also expanding their code
sharing services to Australia, 11 destinations in Germany and to
Brussels, Geneva and Vienna.

The alliance, which is the extension of an agreement first
entered into in Sept. 1989, means Frankfurt will become SIA's hub
in continental Europe, while Singapore will become Lufthansa's
primary hub in Southeast Asia and Australasia. (gis)