Lufthansa is considering a takeover of Norwegian Air, CEO Carsten Spohr said in an interview to the Süddeutsche Zeitung: “Die Starken werden stärker, die Schwachen schwächer” (“The strong get stronger, the weak get weaker“, a nice translation of his philosophy and ambitions).
The German airline thus enters into competition with IAG, which has already bid twice for the Norwegian low-cost company, unsuccessfully so far.
“Everyone talks to everyone in Europe. There is a new wave of consolidation in the sector, and that is why we are also in discussions with Norwegian“, says the Lufthansa CEO. Spohr’s statements caused the Norwegian share to rise more than 10 percent on the Oslo Stock Exchange Monday morning.
The Lufthansa Group comprises several airlines: Lufthansa, Eurowings/Germanwings, SWISS, Austrian Airlines, Air Dolomiti and Brussels Airlines. It also integrated many aircraft of bankrupt Air Berlin into Eurowings and is a serious candidate for the takeover of Alitalia.
With an acquisition of Norwegian, Lufthansa would put its hands on an interesting addition. The ambitious Norwegian price fighter is not only active with cheap flights within Europe, but also carries out scheduled services to North and South America and to Asia. Recently, the company announced the start of a branch in Argentina to fly within South America.
Many consider that the rapid expansion of Norwegian resulted in a financial weakness, making it an easy target for large healthy airline groups. But Lufthansa itself is set for a continuous growth, especially in Asian markets, according to Spohr: “The strong get stronger, the weak get weaker“.
In the same interview, Spohr expresses his dissatisfaction with Frankfurt Airport and his preference for Munich.
He also contemplates the possibility of launching long-haul Eurowings flights from Berlin, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Vienna and Geneva (in addition to the existing bases of Düsseldorf and Munich).
Original article: http://www.sueddeutsche.de/wirtschaft/montagsinterview-mit-carsten-spohr-die-starken-werden-staerker-die-schwachen-schwaecher-1.4019311-3
Forum discussion: http://www.aviation24.be/forums/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=63856
This post was published on 18 June 2018 11:23
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