LH CEO promotes NetJets?
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LH CEO promotes NetJets?
From the FT today, article clipped below:
This seems odd: their CEO is encouragng his 'F' class passengers to use private jets in Europe in preference to LH's own European scheduled network!!
Is this saying his best clients should go elsewhere (and just use LH for Long haul only)?
So, LH loses the high yield customers it mosts needs for its intra-european 'spoke' flights, leaving them with the low-yield Y classers down the back. That should reduce the profit nicely.
How long before the LH european network is reduced and pilots jobs switch from LH to Netjets?
Or am I missing something...
Lufthansa to offer private jet service
By Kevin Done, Aerospace Correspondent
Lufthansa, the German flag carrier, is to be the first commercial airline to offer its long-haul first and business class passengers the option of continuing their journeys within Europe by private business jet.
The airline is joining forces with NetJets, the world's leading operator of corporate jets and a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, the US group headed by Warren Buffett, to offer the service initially from Munich airport. The launch of the service at the end of the month, comes as demand for private jet services is growing in Europe and the US.
Several other carriers including British Airways and Virgin Atlantic of the UK and United Airlines of the US have previously considered similar initiatives.
The efforts were abandoned in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the US, which triggered a sharp fall in demand for air travel in particular in first and business class.
Lufthansa has started investing heavily in the past year, however, as its lucrative business class travel strengthens, to differentiate its product offering at the top end of the market.
In December it opened a separate first class terminal and lounges at its main Frankfurt hub including a chauffeur-driven limousine service direct to the aircraft.
Lufthansa Private Jet will be given a six-month trial at Munich, allowing passengers arriving on long-haul flights to take a private jet to fly on to their final destination with a choice of aabout 1,000 airports around Europe.
The German carrier said on Wednesday the service would be offered at an all-in price for exclusive use of the aircraft with a flight such as Munich to Lugano costing between €4,550 and €5,650 depending on aircraft type.
Companion fares of up to €300 would be charged for each additional passenger on the seven-seat Cessna Citation business jets.
Richard Santulli, Netjets chief executive, said that if the trial proved succesful, it could be extended in future to point-to-point flights between the 1,000 destinations in Europe.
Wolfgang Mayrhuber, Lufthansa chief executive, said that business travellers were attaching a growing importance to being in total control of their time.
""Many of our customers want maximum flexibility in their travel planning. Shortening the journey time is a defining factor in business success."
Netjets Europe had a fleet of 58 corporate jets at the end of last year and is adding a further 33 aircraft this year in response to the rapid recovery and growth in demand for private jet travel during the past year.
This seems odd: their CEO is encouragng his 'F' class passengers to use private jets in Europe in preference to LH's own European scheduled network!!
Is this saying his best clients should go elsewhere (and just use LH for Long haul only)?
So, LH loses the high yield customers it mosts needs for its intra-european 'spoke' flights, leaving them with the low-yield Y classers down the back. That should reduce the profit nicely.
How long before the LH european network is reduced and pilots jobs switch from LH to Netjets?
Or am I missing something...
Lufthansa to offer private jet service
By Kevin Done, Aerospace Correspondent
Lufthansa, the German flag carrier, is to be the first commercial airline to offer its long-haul first and business class passengers the option of continuing their journeys within Europe by private business jet.
The airline is joining forces with NetJets, the world's leading operator of corporate jets and a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, the US group headed by Warren Buffett, to offer the service initially from Munich airport. The launch of the service at the end of the month, comes as demand for private jet services is growing in Europe and the US.
Several other carriers including British Airways and Virgin Atlantic of the UK and United Airlines of the US have previously considered similar initiatives.
The efforts were abandoned in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the US, which triggered a sharp fall in demand for air travel in particular in first and business class.
Lufthansa has started investing heavily in the past year, however, as its lucrative business class travel strengthens, to differentiate its product offering at the top end of the market.
In December it opened a separate first class terminal and lounges at its main Frankfurt hub including a chauffeur-driven limousine service direct to the aircraft.
Lufthansa Private Jet will be given a six-month trial at Munich, allowing passengers arriving on long-haul flights to take a private jet to fly on to their final destination with a choice of aabout 1,000 airports around Europe.
The German carrier said on Wednesday the service would be offered at an all-in price for exclusive use of the aircraft with a flight such as Munich to Lugano costing between €4,550 and €5,650 depending on aircraft type.
Companion fares of up to €300 would be charged for each additional passenger on the seven-seat Cessna Citation business jets.
Richard Santulli, Netjets chief executive, said that if the trial proved succesful, it could be extended in future to point-to-point flights between the 1,000 destinations in Europe.
Wolfgang Mayrhuber, Lufthansa chief executive, said that business travellers were attaching a growing importance to being in total control of their time.
""Many of our customers want maximum flexibility in their travel planning. Shortening the journey time is a defining factor in business success."
Netjets Europe had a fleet of 58 corporate jets at the end of last year and is adding a further 33 aircraft this year in response to the rapid recovery and growth in demand for private jet travel during the past year.
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I think it is very smart. Every body is going down market and tries to compete with the Ryanairs of this world and they want to attract MORE business from the top end!
No where do i read that they want to take passengers of their own aircraft.????
I would imagin that they will have a great time stealing them from the KLM's of this world who have a c**p european business class with business class rates and economy seats. Easy pickings for LH!
So yes you are missing something big time
No where do i read that they want to take passengers of their own aircraft.????
I would imagin that they will have a great time stealing them from the KLM's of this world who have a c**p european business class with business class rates and economy seats. Easy pickings for LH!
So yes you are missing something big time
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People prepared to pay this sort of money are not going to be the sort that will hang around waiting for a regional flight. It would appear to be targeted at those people who cannot justify the cost of a GV to fly from, say Hong Kong to Europe, but will pay a first class fare plus a premium. Rather than losing passengers, it may well attract more, in much the same way that people would go out of their way to fly Concorde.
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If people are willing to pay for the service, then why not? 
I wonder if it's restricted solely to the Citation Bravo and Excel, or whether the Hawker 800XP, Falcons, etc. would be available should passengers request them?
A Netjets captain mentioned some sort of Lufthansa 'deal' to me several months ago - I guess this is it!
I wonder if it's restricted solely to the Citation Bravo and Excel, or whether the Hawker 800XP, Falcons, etc. would be available should passengers request them?A Netjets captain mentioned some sort of Lufthansa 'deal' to me several months ago - I guess this is it!
All fits into the concept of locking in the market segment that a) generates the highest yield and b) influences buying decisions.
Look at LH's First Class Facility at FRA - your car's parked for you, security and immigration is performed on site and they run you over to the aircraft in a luxuxry car. The people who use these facilities want to maximise their time, in exactly the same way that they don't want to have to hang around for hours at a transit airport or be at risk of missing a connection in the first place.
Smart thinking, if you ask me.
Look at LH's First Class Facility at FRA - your car's parked for you, security and immigration is performed on site and they run you over to the aircraft in a luxuxry car. The people who use these facilities want to maximise their time, in exactly the same way that they don't want to have to hang around for hours at a transit airport or be at risk of missing a connection in the first place.
Smart thinking, if you ask me.
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It is a clever idea in fact. I'm looking on a small private-jet operaton next block from me and they have quite a number of customers who want to travel in comfort but cannot afford to charter Challenger/GV/BBJ to go longhaul to LAX, HKG or NRT. It is really expensive if you have only one or two people to go there. So they buying a charter on Learjet from these guys and flying to major hub like FRA/AMS/CDG to catch the scheduled service to desired destination in F-class.
Doing that they are sharply cutting the travel time having short connection and paying much less in the end. Longhaul F-class on major carriers is really comfortable, but shorthaul in C is nowhere close to the word "comfort".
Doing that they are sharply cutting the travel time having short connection and paying much less in the end. Longhaul F-class on major carriers is really comfortable, but shorthaul in C is nowhere close to the word "comfort".
