"We are open to an alliance with a Gulf Arab airline, although we don't see any benefits at the moment." These are the words of the president of Lufthansa, Chris Franz, after the first European airline in terms of turnover is losing significant market shares to the benefit of carriers from Arab countries.
The latter, after a period of autonomous growth, are undermining Lufthansa's leadership on the European market now also through partnerships with companies competing with the German one, such as the case of Qatar Airways which will join forces with Oneworld in October or like Etihad, which is expanding its its presence on the market through various minority stakes, such as the one that according to some rumors would see it close to joining Alitalia.
