As Lufthansa Group hits its 65th year of Hong Kong-Frankfurt service, its leadership reaffirms commitment to both Hong Kong and China’s Greater Bay Area (GBA) for the years ahead.
Senior vice president for sales, distribution & marketing, Frank Naeve, said Lufthansa Group has long recognised the economic potential and importance of GBA, and continues to work with partners to add value to the travel ecosystem in the region.
Lufthansa Group presently operates two daily flights between Hong Kong and Frankfurt by Lufthansa as well as Hong Kong and Zurich by Swiss International Air Lines. These services serve corporate and the leisure traffic.
Naeve noted that GBA traffic via Hong Kong comprises 70 per cent leisure, but opportunities to grow the business travel share exist.
Additionally, the group is working to court more traffic to European destinations via its network by focusing on product innovation, such as the recent upstream check-in service in GBA. Since September 2024, passengers on Lufthansa and Swiss Air are able to complete immigration, check-in, and baggage tagging at eight ports across GBA, before heading to the SkyPier of Hong Kong International Airport.
“We are creating lounges and digital solutions. We will bring the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner to Hong Kong this summer. Lufthansa Allegris, our new, premium longhaul travel experience, features brand-new seats and upgraded catering. We are investing heavily on the overall end-to-end experience, such as free high-speed Internet connection across 850 aircraft in the second half of this year,” he added.
Pierre-Yves Buysschaert, Lufthansa Group’s general manager Hong Kong Macao and South China, emphasised continued partnership with travel agents – a valuable medium that generates 40 per cent of bookings from the GBA region.
“We will continue to engage agents through frequent visits to inform their frontlines about our products, networks and latest enhancements. Of the nine GBA cities, Shenzhen remains a key source market. We are also going into second- and third-tier cities like Zhuhai and Dongguan, (where travellers are) using Hong Kong as a gateway. We would like to increase our footprint in these areas,” shared Buysschaert.
This year, Lufthansa Group will celebrate the 100th anniversary of its first Lufthansa flight to China and a century of air links between China and Germany.
