Lufthansa and Air One sign cooperation agreement that will strengthen the position of both airlines in the Italian market for the benefit of the customers
All Air One flights will be code-shared with Lufthansa, and all
Lufthansa flights to and from Rome will be code-shared with Air One

Air One becomes a partner of Lufthansa`s “Miles & More” frequent
flyer programme

The cooperation will start as of October 29th, 2000
Dr. Karl-Friedrich Rausch, Chairman of the Airline Board and Chief Operating Officer of Lufthansa German Airlines and Carlo Toto, Chairman of Air One, the leading wholly Italian owned private airline, signed today a cooperation agreement in Rome that will strengthen the position of Lufthansa in Italy and Air One«s both in Italy and internationally. Italy is one of Europe`s largest air travel market and Lufthansa`s second international market worldwide.
Through this alliance Lufthansa and Air One will create added value for customers by optimising connections to/from Southern Italy, Rome and Germany. Also, by joining “Lufthansa Miles & More”, one of the world`s premier frequent flyer programmes, Air One customers can greatly benefit from the alliance:Miles & More members can earn miles on all Air One scheduled flights, and on all flights of Lufthansa and its Miles & More -partners. Miles can, for example, be spent for flights to any of the 815 destinations in 130 countries served by Lufthansa and by its Star Alliance partners. Air One is the 29th partner airline joining “Lufthansa Miles & More” programme.

All Air One flights will be operated as code-share with Lufthansa and all Lufthansa flights departing from/arriving in Rome will be operated as code-share with Air One. These new arrangements will come into effect on October 29th with the release of the new winter timetable 2000-2001. The airlines will also co-operate closely in order to further combine their joint Italian and European routes.

Additionally, Air One and Lufthansa will develop joint marketing activities, including fare promotions, joint advertising and joint sales activities targeting travel agents as well as corporate customers.

“Through this alliance Lufthansa will be able to offer its passengers a wider range of destinations in Italy while allowing Lufthansa to further solidify its position in the Italian market, a country of strategic importance for our airline” said Dr. Karl-Friedrich Rausch, Chairman of the Airline Board and Chief Operating Officer of Lufthansa German Airlines during a press conference in Rome. “For the benefit of our customers we will harmonize our networks. In addition, our international as well as our 114.000 Italian “Miles & More” members will be able to earn and redeem miles on all Air One`s scheduled domestic flights, while Air One passengers will have the opportunity of joining one of the world`s premium frequent flyer programs.”

“Air transport is a global industry, and airlines can only prosper through international alliances. We are confident that this agreement will strengthen Air One both in terms of traffic flow and revenues and bring major benefits to our customers” said Carlo Toto, Chairman of Air One. “The increase in international traffic on our network will bring benefits to the Italian tourism industry and the Italian economy as a whole” Toto added.
Air One expects to boost its sales activities in world-wide markets as a result of the code sharing agreement, increasing overseas demand for its domestic routes and increasing international leisure traffic above all to Southern Italy.
The alliance with Air One is fully complementary to Lufthansa«s co-operation with regional partner airline Air Dolomiti, which operates 166 weekly code-share services between Italy and Germany, including Lufthansa`s hubs in Frankfurt and Munich. Since October 1999, Lufthansa is holding a 26% stake in Air Dolomiti.

Lufthansa, one of the leading companies in the aviation industry, today operates, either directly or through code-share, a total of 658 flights linking 8 German cities to 16 Italian airports, 52 flights between Italy and France and 33 flights between Italy and Spain per week. In addition, since May 1st 2000, Lufthansa operates 4 daily code-sharing flights from Milan/Malpensa and Rome/Fiumicino airport to London/Heathrow in collaboration with Star Alliance partner airline British Midland.

Air One is based in Rome and with a fleet of 13 Boeing 737s connects 15 Italian cities including the main business centres of Rome, Milan, Turin, Venice, Naples, Catania and Bari. Air One matches quality service with a competitive fare structure. Air One and EAS, its subsidiary ground handling company, employ some 700 people, including about 100 pilots and 200 cabin crew. The company is controlled by the Toto Group, a leading Italian civil engineering and construction group. Established in 1995, Air One carried almost 1.4 million passengers in 1999 and expects to carry nearly two million this year.

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