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| Lufthansa provides daily flights between Incheon and Munich via A350. Courtesy of Lufthansa |
By Kim Hyun-bin
Germany's flagship carrier Lufthansa is aiming to adopt Korea's advanced digitization technology services for its flights to enhance in-flight services and better communicate with local passengers, according to the airline's general manager.
"We see development in digitization and innovation is very strong, especially in Korea among Asian markets. It is very advanced. This is very much our direction. As a European airline, we want to be the leader in digitization and innovation of our industry," Alejandro Arias, Lufthansa general manager of Korea, said during an interview with The Korea Times at the airline's Seoul office, June 19.
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| Alejandro Arias |
"We believe the Korean market is also perfect to develop our services and digital offers to our customers, which is why we see Korea as a very interesting market for us in the world," he said.
To better communicate with Korean customers, Lufthansa is in cooperation with Kakao to provide differentiated customer services through the mobile application.
"We are cooperating with Kakao. They have a platform for flights, we are seeing ways to cooperate with them and we are also trying to offer tailor-made or differentiated services to customers through the platform. Our goal is to launch the program within this year," he said.
The main challenges the airline faces in the Korean market is the fast-changing environment, which requires swift adjustments, in addition to high quality standards expectations from Korean customers. But Arias believes Lufthansa is considered a "premium carrier" and is well equipped to satisfy those demands.
The airline has localized many of its services to better please Korean passengers.
"Localized services are something that are also special onboard such as internet, live TV. We are one of the first European airlines offering Korean meals on both routes to and from Korea. Bibimbap, dakgalbi (spicy stir-fried chicken) and japchae (stir-fried glass noodle with vegetable) fried rice," Arias said. He also noted the benefits of Korean-speaking flight attendants and Korean entertainment options onboard.
In addition, the airline offers Premium Economy class, which Arias says the carrier was "one of the first" to find success with the service.
The airline provides 14 flights a week, consisting of daily flights to Munich and Frankfurt, and ranks first among foreign carriers in terms of the number of flights to Europe from Korea.
Among all the perks of taking the airline, the strongest is in its vast network connecting to key European destinations that can benefit Korean travelers, the general manager said.
"We have a vast network operating to 343 destinations worldwide to 203 countries, so we are having 15,415 departures per week. Just in Europe, we are flying to over 200 destinations, which means customers coming from Korea wanting to visit not just one country, but various countries in Europe (can benefit)," he said.
Lufthansa Group's airlines ― Lufthansa, Swiss International Air Lines and Austrian Airlines ― were awarded four Skytrax World Airline Awards in 2019.
For the third consecutive year, Lufthansa was chosen as the "Best Airline in Europe" and "Best Western European Airline," while Austrian received the "Best Premium Economy Class Onboard Catering" and SWISS was awarded "The World's Best First Class Lounge."
"We are happy about the recognition, as at the end the customers are voting for the airline, which is very rewarding to see our investments in developing innovations have been appreciated by our major customers," he said.
