N O R T H A M E R I C A N E D I T I O N

BREAKINGBoundaries20 TheIndianEXPRESS DECEMBER 26, 2008

SHASHIDHAR NANJUNDAIAH

MY TRIP from New York to Mum-bai on Lufthansa a couple ofmonths back was no less illumi-nating than reading Arthur Hai-

ley’s magnificently researched and celebrated‘Airport’ series. The first thing you would no-tice is that the passengers seem to be loyal tothat airline. The second, if you have flown on itseveral times, is that if you expected the stiffupper German lip from the staff, expect again.Times, they are a’changin’, and even Lufthansamust respect that. From the first time I flewLufthansa (in 1992, as a graduate student) untilthis trip, the two major “f” factors — food andfriendliness — seemed to have transformedthe airline’s service to Indian passen-gers. That can only mean the Indiandemographic is now firmly on theairline’s agenda.

Marketing DependabilityLufthansa banks on the qual-ity of dependability stemmingfrom three main factors: Ger-man technology, network andsafety. It’s great marketing: a setof quantifiable factors framed to-gether to refer to a quality less tangible.Lufthansa’s technical delays are one of thelowest in the world, its network has 208 desti-nations in 81 countries around the world, andthe average aircraft age is 10 years (low for anairline as old as Lufthansa), and they arewell-maintained.

Friendly service, in-flight entertainmentand relationship management have recentlyrisen to being the top of the customer-fo-cused agenda.

Lufthansa’s tagline ‘All for this one mo-ment’ — seen ubiquitously in New York andacross the US since late last year in its out-door billboards and posters — aims to reflectclass, dependability and relaxation. If its slo-gan for several years, ‘There is no better way tofly,’ sounds as straightforward as you wouldexpect from a German company, the tagline

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 shorterhops, it has been a deciding factor amongmany of the younger passengers flying longdistance.

This means airlines may be divided intotwo categories: ones who distinguish them-selves on price, and those who do so on ser-vice and dependability. Lufthansa’s strategyhas not been to fight that war — perhaps be-cause its current plan, like that of many otherairlines, 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,” explainsVinod Subramanian, Mumbai-based sales manager for India.“We have an encouraging in-dicator from the yield perflight.”

Subramanian points outthat about 40 percent of India-

based business is contracted busi-ness with corporations in Germany

and India. Pune attracts special attentionfor Germany because nearly 200 small andlarge German (Mercedes, Audi included)and European companies (Volvo, Fiat, Re-nault) are located there, apart from a numberof Indian companies exporting their wares toEurope. The company understands the ne-cessity to address individual needs.

For individuals, “It’s a matter of value forthe money, not the money itself,” he adds.“For about $100 more, children receive spe-cial care, with special menus.”

Food seems a competitive issue todayamong airlines. Twelve-page, slickly producedin-flight menus are a part of this strategy forLufthansa. The menus are classy and five-starin their appeal, with a choice of champagnesand wines for the upper class travelers. “Ex-ceptionally good customer feedback has

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 planeseats? “We launched a sales blitz in Pune,”Subramanian explains. “We identifiedtravel agents, existing corporate clients, andthen added new potentials to each.” Muchof the sales emanate from relationshipswith preferred agencies, ‘implants’ (travelagents 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 promotedat a time when Munich has been added to itshub for India. Another allied activity is ma-rine traffic. “About 5 percent of global marinebusiness comes from Mumbai,” Subramaniansays. “The marine staff use our planes to goacross 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 onbrand management and a popular airlinebranding blog at SimpliFlying.com. Nigam saysthis phenomenon is a result of the constant de-mand from NRIs returning home. Foreign car-riers also enjoy stronger networks and betterbrand recognition than Indian carriers.

Richard L. Aboulafia, vice-president,analysis at Teal Group, adds that Europeancarriers are well exposed to international traf-fic and are a lot less price-elastic. So, they arebetter placed in an economic downturn likethis. Added service is an interesting strategythat seems to have worked for Lufthansa.

Turbulence is in the air but experts agreethat the strong will sail through. DeutschLufthansa’s CityLine unit announced jobcuts in November and the carrier’s stockswent down by nearly a percent. Yet, on November 13, the German airline finalizedits plan to buy the loss-making Austrian

LUFTHANSA FACTSNUMBER OF FLIGHTS PER WEEK TO INDIA: 55DESTINATIONS: Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai,Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata, PuneLUFTHANSA’S INDIA CHEF: Hemant Oberoi of TajMahal Hotel, Mumbai

DATELINE1934: Lufthansa’s first “expedition flight” to India,landing in Jodhpur1959: First scheduled flight to India, Frankfurt toKolkata2004: First flight from Lufthansa’s second hub,Munich, to Delhi2006: Kolkata, dropped earlier as destination,reintroduced2008: First time to Asia-Pacific, Lufthansaintroduces an all-business class flight to Pune, sixtimes a week

The lowdown on a high flier

Friendly service, Indiancuisine and targetedcampaigns have resultedin a 20 percent increasein passenger traffic forLufthansa in India in2007