The "new Germanwings"
On 1 July 2013, the “new Germanwings” will launch a completely new brand and product concept allowing all passengers to enjoy “à la carte flying”. Passengers will then be able to create their own package and adapt it in detail to their individual needs, from low-cost flying without add-ons to a high-quality passenger experience with lots of amenities and extras. While offering Economy Class across the board, the “new Germanwings” will boast three fares with different service packages. “Best”, the highest quality product, will cover the needs of business passengers in particular but also appeal to leisure travellers, the “Smart” fare product will include certain add-on services with the customer being able to pick others as needed, while “Basic” will be the no-frills low-cost fare.
"À la carte travel"
True to the motto “Reasonably priced but not cheap”, the airline’s employees will focus all the more on meeting customer’s wishes to the fullest in the future. Passengers will be able to choose from three basic Economy Class modules for this – Best, Smart and Basic. The Best fare represents the best product currently available on inter-European low-cost routes and is setting standards in the industry. A seat in one of the three forward-most rows will be reserved for the passenger. There he will enjoy a very generous seat pitch of 32 inches (81.2 centimetres) and an empty middle seat beside him. Other components of the new Best fare include access to Lufthansa lounges, priority check-in and the use of the fast lane at security checks, more miles in the Miles & More programme, HON Circle miles, double the baggage allowance (two items weighing 23 kilograms each), à la carte catering on board, flexible rebooking and ticket cancellation. The cabin area containing the Best seats is significantly isolated by a screen – much like conventional Business Class. The Best fare is available via all booking channels for all intra-German flights as well as for Germanwings' core European markets, that is to say Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Russia, France and Great Britain.
The Smart fare of the new Germanwings is the new standard fare and corresponds to a conventional Economy product with exceptional quality. Rows towards the front of the aircraft will be reserved for passengers on this fare. They will enjoy the same generous 32-inch (81.2-centimetre) seat pitch as those on the Best fare. Smart includes catering in the form of a snack and non-alcoholic drinks as well as a 23-kilogram baggage allowance.
The lowest fare is the Basic fare, corresponding to a conventional low-cost product. Those who avail of this fare will opt to forego free catering and a baggage allowance, for example, and will be able to choose a seat from row eleven back.
Quick Implementation
In recent months, Germanwings has implemented the new product and brand concept, first announced and presented in December, both consistently and incredibly quickly. The airline's entire fleet, which currently includes 38 aircraft, was converted to the new design, both internally and externally, in a mere six months. According to current plans, the “new Germanwings” is to operate a fleet of 87 aircraft by the end of 2014. This will include 64 fully-owned Airbus A319s and A320s as well as a further 23 CRJ-900 aircraft owned by Eurowings-Luftverkehrs AG which will in future fly solely for Germanwings.
www.lufthansa.com
www.germanwings.com
Photo LibraryPresentation (Charts of the press conference on 6.12.2012)
11.04.2013
“New Germanwings” on faster approach path
06.12.12
“New Germanwings” to become Europe’s most modern airline with à la carte travel
11.10.12
Lufthansa merging point-to-point services outside its Frankfurt and Munich hubs under unified brand
19.09.12
Lufthansa consolidates Germanwings and Direct Services in Cologne
New Best, Smart and Basic fare products
Germanwings collects donations for HelpAlliance on board
Overview