Lufthansa Consulting: Airlines turning to bilateral partnerships in face of COVID-19 crisis

Lufthansa Consulting reported (28-Jul-2021) airlines are "turning to partnerships and cooperative agreements - even with former rivals" in the face of the COVID-19 crisis. The consultancy stated there was only limited cooperation between airlines within the traditional alliances - Star Alliance, SkyTeam or oneworld - but "in many cases" airlines are opted for cooperation on a bilateral basis, even with competitors from other alliances. Lufthansa Consulting said the trend has been "significantly accelerated by the current situation, but is not necessarily permanent", although it expects that in the face of COVID-19 enforced downsizing/fleet groundings, many airlines are going to continue cooperating in order to maintain connectivity. [more - original PR]