As I wrote about yesterday, Etihad and Lufthansa held a joint news conference in Abu Dhabi today to discuss the expansion of their partnership.While the announcement wasn’t about Etihad joining the Star Alliance, the cooperation between the two airlines has greatly been expanded.
Continue reading: Details Of The Expanded Partnership Between Etihad & Lufthansa
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
So LY doesn't want other *A members to cooperate with nonmembers; but it is OK for LH to do so? IOKIYALH (it's OK if you are LH).
IIRC, even LH's existing JV partners can't send their F pax into LH's FCL or FCT, only the Senator Lounges (which is also accessible by any Star Gold). I just flew SQ R on JFK-FRA-SIN and no FRA FCL for me.
Now, on the other hand, if this partnership leads to EY flying their A380 into FRA, there might be a TINY chance LH can grant the passenger(s) flying in the "Residence" into FCL.
But for now, lounge access will mostly mirror existing Star partners.
"So LH doesn’t want other *A members to cooperate with nonmembers"
LH only informally discourages members to cooperate with those in direct competition with available partners, say AC skips over ANA in favor of JAL. I don't think they have any right to actually veto someone else's codeshare agreements, like the ones between AC/CX and NZ/CX. That is probably an urban myth.
It's difficult to overstate how far removed this is from "Etihad is joining Star Alliance".
It’s also difficult to overstate how many clicks are generated by “Etihad is joining Star Alliance”.
Off-topic, but... which of those two flight attendant uniforms is the ugliest?
The photograph of the Lufthansa and Etihad men with the two female flight attendants show the continued sexist mentality of the two airlines involved.