The joy of flying: Lufthansa Group goes all the way
Print Edition
AFTER working in the airline industry for 23 years, Veli Polat, 49, still feels an emotional wave when standing in front of a plane, amazed by the hundreds of tons of metal capable of taking off skyward.
The Turkish-German was recently appointed as Senior Director of Sales China, Lufthansa Group Airlines.
Before coming to China, he worked in Asia, Europe and the Americas, gaining an understanding of both Eastern and Western cultures.
“Working for Lufthansa, especially in Germany, is something special,” says Polat. “It’s been one of my dreams, which eventually came true.”
The carrier has been in China for more than 90 years. In July 1926, Lufthansa sent a plane from Berlin to Beijing, just six months after the company was formed. The past nine decades saw a great development of the company as well as its business in China.
Every week, there are more than 90 direct flights of the airline group — Lufthansa German Airlines, Austrian Airlines and Swiss International Airlines — flying from five Chinese destinations to European cities, including the latest daily flight between Shanghai and Vienna which was just launched last April.
Chinese travelers are also evolving.
“Many Europeans used to think that Asian tourists, particularly Chinese, usually travel in groups,” Polat says. “But that’s the old cliché. Now you can see more and more individual travelers, or young couple with a child. They can speak English very well.”
He says the increasing Chinese investment in Europe has also brought more business travelers.
“China is a huge country with big population. With the prosperity of China, more people will be interested to go outside,” Polat says.
But the Lufthansa group is also seeing more challenges, including the growing competition and vulnerability of the industry globally, particularly in the age of social media.
“As airlines, our business is quite fragile in a sense that if any disease or terrorist attack happens here and there, people would get concerned and all of a sudden stop flying,” Polat says, adding this is happening more and more across the industry.
“This is also part of the nature of social networks, with the news spreading faster than ever, and fake news can totally destroy your business,” he says. “That could have quite a high dynamic, negative and positive, for the business.”
This partly explained why Lufthansa has been proactive in digital innovation, including visual reality technology, e-journals and Internet connection on planes, to keep in pace with the dynamic world to attract passengers.
Our experts at Lufthansa Innovation Hub are working on many ideas, such as technology equipped on flights. The passengers can have a 360-degree view of the landscape the plane is flying over at that moment in the help of a VR glass.
“For people enthusiastic about flying and new technology, this gives another experience and a connection with the flight, making you feel like a bird,” he says. “One can also experience First or Business Class via the VR technology while sitting at home.”
Though some of the latest features are not yet available in China, Polat believes that is not far away.
“Chinese customers, particularly the young, are very curious, closely following digital trends. This is also a good market to test these innovations,” Polat says. “And I believe more innovative ideas will come from China.”
This year, Lufthansa Group will continue to work closely through its joint venture with Air China to provide more flight options and benefits for customers. “We are a leading carrier group between China and Europe and we don’t take our customers for granted,” Polat says. “We are constantly working on that, to fight for our market and our position.”
Despite the innovations and optimized purchasing processes, the best way to experience Lufthansa is when you are on a flight, Polat says.
“That’s the only way and we have to make the best out of it,” he says. “Our intention is that we are prepared for it and give the uniqueness of the different brands of Lufthansa.
“We want to create the customer experience on board in a way that customers can keep a lively and warmhearted feeling on their ways.”
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