Lufthansa is offering is passengers a new one-stop option between Europe and Australia/New Zealand via Hong Kong through a codeshare agreement with Cathay Pacific.
Under the proposed partnership, Lufthansa, Swiss and Austrian Airlines will place their airline code on Cathay’s flights from Hong Kong to Auckland, Cairns, Melbourne and Sydney from April 26 2017 onwards.
Currently, Lufthansa codeshares with fellow Star Alliance carriers Singapore Airlines (via Singapore), Thai Airways (via Bangkok) and on United’s services to Australia.
The German flag carrier also has a joint-venture with Singapore Airlines covering flights between four European countries (Austria, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland) and four Asia Pacific countries (Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore) that the Singapore Competition Commission approved in December 2016.
Meanwhile, Cathay Pacific will place it CX airline code on Austrian, Lufthansa and Swiss operated flights to 14 destinations in Europe from Frankfurt, Vienna and Zurich.
These destinations were Berlin, Brussels, Budapest, Dresden, Düsseldorf Florence, Geneva, Hannover, Hamburg, Munich, Nuremberg, Oslo, Stuttgart and Venice.
Cathay Pacific, a member of the oneworld alliance, flies to 10 destinations in Europe with its own aircraft, including Düsseldorf and Frankfurt in Germany, as well as Zurich in Switzerland.
Lufthansa flies to Hong Kong from Frankfurt and Munich, while Austrian serves the city from Vienna and Swiss from Zurich.
Cathay Pacific chief executive Ivan Chu said the agreement would give passengers more options for travel to continental Europe.
“This new codeshare agreement will offer Cathay Pacific passengers enhanced connectivity to destinations in continental Europe through flights operated by Lufthansa, Swiss and Austrian Airlines via our gateways in Frankfurt, Düsseldorf and Zurich,” Chu said in a statement.
Lufthansa Group chief executive Carsten Spohr said: “I am particularly pleased because it strengthens our global network of strategic partnerships and further improves our airlines’ offering on Asian routes in the interest of our passengers.”
There are also reciprocal frequent flyer earn and redeem opportunities for members of Cathay Pacific Asia Miles and Lufthansa Group’s Miles and More when travelling on the codeshare routes.
Further, Cathay Pacific’s Marco Polo Club members travelling on codeshare flights marketed by Cathay Pacific and operated by Lufthansa Group were eligible to earn Club Points that go to the gaining or retention of status within the program.
Cathay Pacific and Lufthansa are already partners in cargo transport, having forged a cooperation agreement in 2016 that covers joint marketing of their respective freight capacity between Hong Kong and Europe.
