'Seamless travel' with Air Malta, Lufthansa deal

Air Malta has became Lufthansa's 33rd cooperation partner with a code-sharing agreement between the airlines.

Flights of the two airlines will share numbers as passengers are promised comfortable connections and seamless travel through coordinated timetables.

Passengers can also earn and redeem miles on the frequent flyer programmes of either airline. Business class customers have access to both the Lufthansa and Air Malta lounges and passengers can check through their luggage until their final destinations on all Air Malta and Lufthansa flights.

The first code sharing flight - KM304/LH1687 - left Malta International Airport for Munich at 9.30 a.m. yesterday. The flight, on an Airbus A320-100, had more than 100 guests and passengers who followed a ribbon cutting ceremony at departure gate three.

Air Malta chief executive officer Joe Cappello described the agreement as "another milestone" for Air Malta. It followed the signing of a memorandum of understanding in February.

"This agreement, which will give both airlines' passengers full service treatment, seamless travel arrangements and connections to a global network, falls perfectly into Air Malta's strategic plans to tap into new emerging markets such as the Far East, China and the Americas," he said.

Joachim Steinbach, vice-president sales and services for southeast Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Pakistan, expressed his confidence in the strategic cooperation of the two airlines. He said that Air Malta was now integrated in the international Lufthansa network.

This winter, he added, Lufthansa was offering 183 destinations in 78 countries and passengers travelling from Malta could connect to most of these destinations.

Currently, Air Malta's winter schedule includes four weekly flights to Frankfurt and five weekly flights to Munich. There are also twice weekly operations to Berlin and Hamburg.

Lufthansa offers a daily flight from Malta to Frankfurt and through its Star Alliance Network more than 800 onward connections to 130 countries.

Mr Steinbach said Air Malta was now operating from Munich Airport's terminal two, exclusively used by Lufthansa and its Star Alliance partners.

"This service offers seamless travel and fast transfer to worldwide connecting flights. Terminal 2 is one of the most modern airports and has won several awards", he said.

MIA chief executive officer Peter Bolech expressed his satisfaction at the agreement, which, he said, would facilitate travel for the Maltese on long haul routes.

"Air Malta and Lufthansa are long established airlines in Malta that have already proven their potential to generate traffic in their long history of operating to and from Malta."

He said their joint operation augured well for an increase in tourist arrivals.

Air Malta has been operating to Germany since its launch in 1974. Lufthansa has been operating to Malta for more than 20 years.