The German carrier is investigating the possibility of new routes to and from the city with the help of Liverpool John Lennon Airport.

Lufthansa general manager, Christian Schindler has confirmed that talks have taken place regarding possible links with with bmi regional, with plans developing for a new, low-cost variant of the Lufthansa brand, which could be launched next year and will be based entirely outside of Germany at European and airports.

Chief executive of Liverpool John Lennon Airport, Andrew Cornish has commented that German routes are currently poorly served, especially fights to business destinations.

While Lufthansa has said that Liverpool would not be a viable location for them or their subsidiary, German Wings, they have said that they could share codes with bmi regional, who are currently increasing their presence across regional European bases.

bmi regional currently operates flights to Frankfurt and Munich from Bristol, as well as Brussels from East Midlands and Newcastle. Christian Schindler commented:

“[This] works well. They feed in with out network on these routes and to Lufthansa hubs.”

He also said that bmi regional’s 50 capacity Embraer aircraft would be a suitable match for Liverpool:

“bmi regional is a new company and there are opportunities. Frankfurt and Munich is a possibility for Liverpool.

“We are always looking for partners and it might be an option for bmi regional and us to work together.”

Lufthansa has plans to establish a larger presence in the short haul leisure flight market, with the launch of their new low-cost operation in summer 2015:

“This will be a new platform that can be based anywhere in Europe. It could be in the UK, but it is not yet finalised: not even the brand.”

Christian Schindler explained that this new model would be based on the same strategy that has seen substantial success for budget airlines like easyJet, and could significantly boost traffic by transferring focus from UK bases and establishing hubs in other European countries: extending routes between the UK and the continent. He said:

“Like easyJet, when it went outside its home market to build up traffic, it will be just point-to-point and much more leisure orientated.

“It will be outside Germany. There could be several bases outside Germany and they could be anywhere. Where it is sustainable is where it will grow in terms of bases.

“One base will be a starting point, but there could be several bases in one country. It depends where there is business and where we can make money.

“It is an opportunity for Liverpool to target.”

Liverpool John Lennon Airport air service development director, Mark Povall, said:

“Our analysis shows that Germany is an underserved market from Liverpool with flights only to Berlin at this moment in time.

“However, we continue to explore the opportunities to develop new routes to various German cities, with a number of airlines including Lufthansa and bmi regional, in terms of looking at both point-to-point routes and for onward connections via a hub airport, such as Frankfurt.

“There are many companies across the city region who do a lot of business in Germany and combined with a strong German inbound leisure market, both sectors would benefit from more direct services with Germany.”

Christian Schindler also accredited Merseyside’s growing automotive and vehicular sector in helping to boost business at Lufthansa’s Manchester Airport hub, from which Lufthansa currently operates 81 flights per week (not including German Wings).

In 2014 up to October, Lufthansa reported that the airline had carried 800,000 people at Manchester, a 7% increase on the previous year, even though capacity at the airline had remained flat; demonstrating an increase in notable demand.

Merseyside’s automotive industry is seen as contributing to this uptick, with Christian Schindler describing the developments at Halewood’s Jaguar Land Rover plant and Ellesmere Port’s Vauxhall factory as strong performers with a “positive” contribution.

Lufthansa plant to target the holiday market in 2015, launching reconfigured Airbus A340 aircraft in September to operate between Frankfurt and Tampa, Florida. These will offer a smaller business class and include more seats in premium economy and economy sections.

Christian Schindler concluded:

“We have been focused on corporate traffic in the past. We need to change the way we are doing business.

“It will be a different configuration because it is a leisure destination and we won’t have the corporate demand.”

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Words: Peter Cribley