German airline targets Asian market

Ulrich Wachter, senior vice president of Lufthansa German Airlines

FRANKFURT, Germany ― Koreans have been inclined to fly overseas on Korean jets because of language problems.
Lufthansa German Airlines, however, will keep hiring more Korean flight attendants, said Ulrich Wachter, senior vice president of Lufthansa German Airlines.
“We recognize that Koreans now are much more global, especially young people,” Wachter told the JoongAng Daily at the headquarters of the second-biggest European airline company in Frankfurt. “Even businessmen fluent in English feel more comfortable when the flight attendants have the same language and cultural background.”
In its localization strategy, Lufthansa has crews with 36 different nationalities. Non-Germans represent 16 percent of its 15,000 flight attendants in total.
“The percentage is increasing,” Wachter said. “That is because the ratio of foreign passengers has expanded. Only seven years ago, 70 percent of our travelers were German. Now, only 28 percent of our customers are German.”
The change is partly due to the economic situation in Germany, which has had difficult times over the last six to eight years, he explained. As sales in Germany slowed, Lufthansa had to compensate with sales overseas, so it became international and less dependent on the German market, he said.
“Though the German economy has now recovered, I think the ratio of [non-German] crews will not change much,” he said.
As Lufthansa focuses its business in Asia, it has nearly 700 flight attendants from the region and 60 of them are Korean, Wachter said. They work on flights between Incheon and Frankfurt, a European hub, and on flights between Busan and Munich, a new route that began in March.
Korean-style meals, including bibimbap and kimchi, are provided on the flights, he said.
“The Korean flight attendants give information in the Korean language about transfers and they help the German crew understand Korean culture and how to approach the Korean passengers,” Wachter said.
Some Koreans say they notice somewhat different treatment from the German air crew.
“In fact, Asian travelers are more critical,” Wachter said. “While we get generally high ratings on our service from various parts of the world, the Asian travelers compare us with Asian carriers known for their excellent service.”
He said Koreans and other Asian customers want different service than Europeans, due to differences in culture.
Accordingly, Lufthansa holds a monthly workshop for its crews, in which Korean flight attendants explain Korean mentality and culture to German crews. In addition, at least one Korean attendant works every flight between Korea and Germany.
Wachter also said that while many airlines have ended first-class service, and now offer just business and economy seats, Lufthansa is reinforcing is first class service, targeting the high-end market. In Europe, Lufthansa is the only airline that operates first class service. It built a first class terminal in the Frankfurt airport.

By Moon So-young Staff Writer [symoon@joongang.co.kr]