Eurowings teams up with Norwegian and SunExpress to offer shared connections

The Lufthansa low-cost subsidiary Eurowings intends to cooperate with other airlines in the future and to offer connections with them for the first time.

“Initially, our partners will be SunExpress and Norwegian,” announced Eurowings CEO Thorsten Dirks in an interview with German news magazine FOCUS. So it would be possible in the future “to fly from Cologne to Spitsbergen in one single booking,” said Dirks.

The transfer connections would initially be offered as a so-called “virtual interlining”, in which the passengers still have to take their own luggage when changing from one airline to another and have to register it again. Eurowings is, however, “in discussion with airlines and airports, in order to make this step superfluous,” said Dirks to FOCUS.

Nonetheless, many customers travel with only hand luggage anyway. In addition, the transfer tickets include insurance that includes alternative transport, should the connection actually fail.

Dirks also announced that Eurowings would join forces with other companies: “We are an open platform and thus attractive for other cooperation partners.” Unlike competitors Ryanair and Easyjet, which offer “virtual interlining” with other airlines on long-haul routes, Eurowings “focuses on Europe,” said Dirks.