SIA, Lufthansa JV partnership to kick off from Oct 1

SINGAPORE Airlines (SIA) and Lufthansa Group will launch a previously announced joint venture (JV) on Oct 1, which will cover flights between Singapore, Australia and Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Belgium.

Passengers will have access to a wider range of travel itineraries and fares that will be progressively offered by the airlines under the JV agreement.

Since November 2015, when the agreement was first inked, the two carriers have expanded capacity between Singapore and both Germany and Switzerland. This includes the introduction of new SIA-operated flights between Singapore and Dusseldorf in July 2016.

Lufthansa has also announced plans to re-introduce services between Singapore and Munich from March next year.

These benefits will enhance existing Star Alliance arrangements that customers have access to on SIA, Lufthansa, SWISS and Austrian Airlines. Flights operated by SIA, Lufthansa and SWISS between Singapore and Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Munich and Zurich will be included in a revenue-sharing agreement between the two airline groups.

The two airline groups have also significantly increased codeshare ties, with over 130 city pairs offered between key markets in Europe, South-east Asia and South-west Pacific, they said in a joint release.