Date and destination defined – the flight route is open. This is the innovative idea behind the “AnyWay Travel Pass”. Passengers book a destination and a travel date, with which Lufthansa Group airline they fly and via which hub, remains open until shortly before departure. After a first successful offer phase in Germany in fall 2017, another one has now started in the Asian metropolis of Hong Kong.
“Our goal is to offer our customers a travel experience tailored to their individual needs. We see that many of our guests are very flexible – with the “AnyWay Travel Pass” we offer them the perfect offer at a very reasonable price,” says Heike Birlenbach, Senior Vice President Sales Lufthansa Hub Airlines. “Our four hubs can be used flexibly, and customers benefit from this through attractive offers. The AnyWay Travel Pass is a good example of our strategy to be fast on the market, to place innovative ideas and to try out new things over and over again”.
When booking, customers choose their departure date and destination at websites. A few days before departure, guests are informed about the flight route. This offer now also applies to flights from Hong Kong to selected European destinations such as Barcelona, London, Geneva, Amsterdam, Milan, Copenhagen, Lisbon, Rome, Venice, Budapest, Stockholm, Oslo or Vienna. Separate Travel Passes must be purchased for both outward and return flights. Shortly after the launch of the offer in Hong Kong, the demand for AnyWay tickets was high.
Whether online payment and mobility services, shopping, messenger services or music streaming – Korea has one provider for all of this: “Kakao”. With 49 million active users per month, “Kakao” is the most used messenger platform in Korea. The app connects 93% of all Korean smartphone users and offers enormous potential.
At the end of April, the Lufthansa Group signed a partnership with the Korean company and will be the first airline group to offer flights and additional services for Lufthansa, SWISS and Austrian Airlines on the ‘Flights by Kakao’ platform from the second half of 2018. The cooperation is based on a direct link to the Lufthansa booking system and thus opens up a completely new sales channel. So far only travel agencies are represented on the platform.
On “Kakao” it is possible to compare flights in real time, book and pay directly. An innovative feature is that users can buy their tickets simply via the “Kakao” Messenger app without having to open another app – or the browser.
“The presence on the platform makes it possible to address travellers individually with tailor-made offers. Both Lufthansa and “Kakao” are leaders in their field when it comes to digital innovations. We are proud of the start of this cooperation, in which we are the first airline to offer a Kakao service,” says Heike Birlenbach, Senior Vice President Sales Lufthansa Hub Airlines.
Asian markets such as Korea and China are among the world’s leading nations when it comes to digitization and innovation. The desire to travel in these countries is continuously increasing. In 2017 alone, for example, some 20 million Koreans travelled abroad. Flights and additional services are usually booked online or via a smartphone app, while customers place great value on attractive offers.
Both the “AnyWay Travel Pass” and the “Kakao” partnership underline Lufthansa’s claim to be a leader in digital services.
