16 October 2009

Low cost carriers in website tie-up

Germanwings is forging a partnership with Bmibaby to market both airlines’ flights on their websites.

The move comes in the build-up to the launch of the German budget carrier’s Manchester-Cologne/Bonn route on October 25.

Manchester will become the third city Germanwings will serve in the UK.

The link will make it possible to book additional connections through the Germanwings and Bmibaby websites.

The airlines have combined to introduce a simple ticketing procedure in order to minimise booking times.

Having selected a flight, the user will be forwarded to the corresponding booking page of the partner airline where they will be able to buy a ticket for the next stage of their journey.

Passengers will also be able to take advantage of additional travel options on the partner’s website, such as special hotel deals or rental car offers.

Germanwings CEO Thomas Winkelmann, CEO of Germanwings said: "Partnering with Bmibaby increases our presence in the British market. "

The UK carrier’s managing director Crawford Rix said: "By providing a direct link between bmibaby.com and Germanwings.com we are offering travellers in Europe even more places to fly to at really low fares."

by Phil Davies