Frankfurt Airport forms new joint venture with Lufthansa

Frankfurt Airport operator, Fraport, and Lufthansa have formed a new joint venture called ‘FraAlliance’ with each company holding a 50% share in the new initiative.

The two companies intend to use FraAlliance to strengthen their existing co-operation on strategic and operational matters at Frankfurt Airport and “plan to deepen their long-standing partnership in relation to enhancing services at Frankfurt Airport’s Terminal 1”.

The ultimate goal, say the partners, is to improve the quality of products and services at Frankfurt Airport.

In terms of its scope, the joint venture seeks to improve aspects relating to business development and operations, customer experience, infrastructure, intermodality, and sustainability.

They argue that as a result, improvements will be achieved by analysing and optimising processes in terminal operations, as well as by taking a joint, customer-focused approach to product development.

The aim, say Fraport and Lufthansa, is to “bring about a journey-wide enhancement of processes and product offerings for flights, while boosting the competitiveness of the airport:.

They note that one initial outcome of the enhanced partnership is the availability of real-time updates for aviation security checkpoints in the Lufthansa App, which allows Lufthansa passengers to see checkpoint waiting times at Frankfurt, giving them the opportunity to better plan their airport journeys.

In another project, passenger flows have been carefully analysed and optimised. This, says Fraport, will significantly reduce transfer times for around a million passengers per year by removing unnecessary, duplicate security checks.

Pierre Dominique Prümm, Fraport AG’s executive director of aviation and infrastructure, says: “With this joint venture, we’re creating a highly responsive and effective team that can pursue areas of mutual interest and to continue improving passenger services.

“It’s an important signal for the medium and long-term prospects of Frankfurt Airport.”

While Lufthansa CEO, Jens Ritter, notes: “We want to offer our customers a reliable, punctual, and first-rate travel experience. The joint venture will allow us to place stronger and more targeted emphasis on the projects required to realise these aims.

“The new partnership at our Frankfurt hub will deliver significant added value for our customers by implementing innovative, future-focused measures.”

The FraAlliance team is staffed equally by both companies.