20 TheIndianEXPRESS BREAKINGBoundaries
The lowdown on a high flier
Friendly service, Indian SHASHIDHAR NANJUNDAIAH
cuisine and targeted
M
Y TRIP from New York to Mum-
bai on Lufthansa a couple of
campaigns have resulted months back was no less illumi-
nating than reading Arthur Hai-
in a 20 percent increase ley’s magnificently researched and celebrated
‘Airport’ series. The first thing you would no-
in passenger traffic for tice is that the passengers seem to be loyal to
Lufthansa in India in that airline. The second, if you have flown on it
several times, is that if you expected the stiff
2007 upper German lip from the staff, expect again.
Times, they are a’changin’, and even Lufthansa
must respect that. From the first time I flew
Lufthansa (in 1992, as a graduate student) until
this trip, the two major “f” factors — food and
friendliness — seemed to have transformed
the airline’s service to Indian passen-
gers. That can only mean the Indian
demographic is now firmly on the
airline’s agenda.
Marketing Dependability
Lufthansa banks on the qual-
ity of dependability stemming
from three main factors: Ger-
man technology, network and
safety. It’s great marketing: a set
LUFTHANSA FACTS of quantifiable factors framed to-
gether to refer to a quality less tangible.
NUMBER OF FLIGHTS PER WEEK TO INDIA: 55 Lufthansa’s technical delays are one of the
DESTINATIONS: Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, lowest in the world, its network has 208 desti-
Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Pune nations in 81 countries around the world, and
LUFTHANSA’S INDIA CHEF: Hemant Oberoi of Taj the average aircraft age is 10 years (low for an
Mahal Hotel, Mumbai airline as old as Lufthansa), and they are
well-maintained.
DATELINE Friendly service, in-flight entertainment
1934: Lufthansa’s first “expedition flight” to India, and relationship management have recently
landing in Jodhpur risen to being the top of the customer-fo-
1959: First scheduled flight to India, Frankfurt to cused agenda.
Kolkata Lufthansa’s tagline ‘All for this one mo-
2004: First flight from Lufthansa’s second hub, ment’ — seen ubiquitously in New York and
Munich, to Delhi across the US since late last year in its out-
2006: Kolkata, dropped earlier as destination, door billboards and posters — aims to reflect
reintroduced class, dependability and relaxation. If its slo-
2008: First time to Asia-Pacific, Lufthansa gan for several years, ‘There is no better way to
introduces an all-business class flight to Pune, six fly,’ sounds as straightforward as you would
times a week expect from a German company, the tagline
N O R T H A M E R I C A N
is an indication of loosening of the tie.
Does Price Matter?
Pricing is normally a major factor, and al-
though this is more in the case of shorter
hops, it has been a deciding factor among
many of the younger passengers flying long
distance.
This means airlines may be divided into
two categories: ones who distinguish them-
selves on price, and those who do so on ser-
vice and dependability. Lufthansa’s strategy
has not been to fight that war — perhaps be-
cause its current plan, like that of many other
airlines, is to attract the business class trav-
eler. But will this plan work with cost-con-
scious Indian travelers?
“We’re the only carrier to fly busi-
ness class —only flights to Pune —
six times a week,” explains
Vinod Subramanian, Mumbai-
based sales manager for India.
“We have an encouraging in-
dicator from the yield per
flight.”
Subramanian points out
that about 40 percent of India-
based business is contracted busi-
ness with corporations in Germany
and India. Pune attracts special attention
for Germany because nearly 200 small and
large German (Mercedes, Audi included)
and European companies (Volvo, Fiat, Re-
nault) are located there, apart from a number
of Indian companies exporting their wares to
Europe. The company understands the ne-
cessity to address individual needs.
For individuals, “It’s a matter of value for
the money, not the money itself,” he adds.
“For about $100 more, children receive spe-
cial care, with special menus.”
Food seems a competitive issue today
among airlines. Twelve-page, slickly produced
in-flight menus are a part of this strategy for
Lufthansa. The menus are classy and five-star
in their appeal, with a choice of champagnes
and wines for the upper class travelers. “Ex-
ceptionally good customer feedback has
E D I T I O N
DECEMBER 26, 2008
shown us that our passengers are highly satis-
fied with our fare,” says Thierry Antinori, ex-
ecutive vice president, marketing and sales.
So how do you market high-end plane
seats? “We launched a sales blitz in Pune,”
Subramanian explains. “We identified
travel agents, existing corporate clients, and
then added new potentials to each.” Much
of the sales emanate from relationships
with preferred agencies, ‘implants’ (travel
agents who operate from Lufthansa’s of-
fices) and corporations.
Allied activities add to an airline’s market-
ing efforts. Tourism in Germany in general,
and Munich in particular, is being promoted
at a time when Munich has been added to its
hub for India. Another allied activity is ma-
rine traffic. “About 5 percent of global marine
business comes from Mumbai,” Subramanian
says. “The marine staff use our planes to go
across and join their crew.”
Rough times, smooth rides?
Maybe, say experts — if you’re already in
cruise control headed for India.
Shashank Nigam is a Boston and Singa-
pore-based airline branding expert and consul-
tant, and a contributing author of two books on
brand management and a popular airline
branding blog at SimpliFlying.com. Nigam says
this phenomenon is a result of the constant de-
mand from NRIs returning home. Foreign car-
riers also enjoy stronger networks and better
brand recognition than Indian carriers.
Richard L. Aboulafia, vice-president,
analysis at Teal Group, adds that European
carriers are well exposed to international traf-
fic and are a lot less price-elastic. So, they are
better placed in an economic downturn like
this. Added service is an interesting strategy
that seems to have worked for Lufthansa.
Turbulence is in the air but experts agree
that the strong will sail through. Deutsch
Lufthansa’s CityLine unit announced job
cuts in November and the carrier’s stocks
went down by nearly a percent. Yet, on
November 13, the German airline finalized
its plan to buy the loss-making Austrian