Dubai: Lufthansa Group’s low cost carrier Eurowings will no longer be flying to Al Maktoum International at Dubai World Central (DWC). Instead it will fly to Dubai International, the world’s busiest airport for international passengers, an executive said on Sunday.
Lufthansa announced in March this year that Eurowings, a rebranding of Germanwings, would launch flights to DWC from Cologne in East Germany on October 25. But the Group no longer wants to split its operations between two airports with Lufthansa and fellow Group carrier Swiss both flying to Dubai International, where it also has ground handling staff.
The airline will also wait until December — rather than October 25 — to launch the flight. “We think it’s not the right moment for Dubai World Central,” Karsten Zang, Lufthansa Region Director Gulf, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan, told reporters in Dubai.
The change in Eurowings’ plans will be a dent for operator Dubai Airports, that has been trying to lure airlines to DWC, and as recently as last week used the airline as one example of the airport’s popularity.
Zang said there were “lots of discussions back and forth” about flying to DWC but that the Group had never committed despite issuing a press release in March 2015 saying it would.
“We are very happy with Dubai International,” he said.
Potential option
Zang said there was room to grow the Eurowings brand in the Middle East, which will start with three weekly flights to Dubai, and touted Muscat in Oman as one potential option.
“Eurowings will give us new opportunities in the future,” he said.
Lufthansa Group is also sizing up opportunities in Iran once sanctions on the country are lifted, which are expected as early as 2016. Lufthansa Group Chief Executive, Carsten Spohr, has already flagged options to launch new routes in Iran as well as bringing the company’s maintenance and catering services to the country’s airports.
“Iran, from our perspective, will be one of the growth markets of the region,” Zang said.
But Lufthansa’s brand in the Middle East could be tarnished if the airline continues to face flight cancellations with pilots having gone on strike several times this year over objections to renegotiate their contracts.
“If this were to continue … it could damage their reputation,” Zang said.
