Germanwings formally relauches

The low-cost arm of Lufthansa – Germanwings has been relaunched as of Monday.

Rendering: Germanwings/Lufthansa Group.

In real terms, it means that short-haul flights that don’t head to Lufthansa’s main hubs of Frankfurt or Munich will be slowly switched over to Germanwings.

The aim of this upheaval is to help Lufthansa’s short-haul division back into profitability, whilst offering consumers more choice in how much they pay.

Speaking of fares, Germanwings will be offering three new types of fare:

• Basic: Starting at €33 Including  the flight, one free piece of hand luggage and miles.
• Smart:Starting at €53 Includes  all from the Basic fare, 1 item of hold luggage, a seat in rows 4-10 and a snack and drink onboard
• Best: Starting at €199 Is more of a EuroBusiness product without calling it a Business product. Seating in row 1-3, with an empty middle seat, 2 bags, priority boarding, lounge access and reserved luggage compartments with what Germanwings call “The à-la-carte meal service awaits you”.

As of now, Germanwings takes over from route departing  Cologne, Hamburg, Nurnberg and Stuttgart. In the winter timetable, Germanwings will add Berlin to its base roster, with Düsseldorf to join in 2014. Long haul routes from these airports will continue to be operated by Lufthansa mainline.

By the end of 2014, Germanwings will operate 64 Airbus A319/320’s (with aircraft transferred from the main Lufthansa fleet) and 23 Bombardier CRJ900s.

For frequent flyers and those who want to collect Miles and More Miles, here are the magic fare codes that took some hunting:

Flights within Germany

• Booking class J: 1,500 award miles per flight
• Booking class D,I: 1,000 award miles per flight
• Booking class C,H,Q,V,W,S,G,K,L,T,X,Y,B,M: 500 award miles per flight
• Booking class N,E,F,O,R: 125 award miles per flight

Continental

• Booking class J: 2,000 award miles per flight
• Booking class D,I: 1,250 award miles per flight
• Booking class C,H,Q,V,W,S,G,K,L,T,X,Y,B,M: 750 award miles per flight
• Booking class N,E,F,O,R: 125 award miles per flight

Mileage earning for those who collect on other Star Alliance airlines has not been announced.

Lounge access for Germanwings customers is restricted to:

• BEST can use designated lounges
• Miles and More HON Circle and Senators can use lounges on all fares
• Miles and More FTL’s can use lounges on SMART fares and above at Lufthansa lounges and other selected lounges
• Star Alliance members cannot access lounges on Basic or Smart fares – only on Best.

Well, remember when companies mention “Low Cost Carriers”, they mean “Lower cost – to the airline” not to you.

How this strategy pans out, we’re going to have to watch….