Lufthansa and Expedia announce global strategic agreement

16 July 2002

Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Expedia, Inc., (NASDAQ: EXPE) the world's leading online travel service, have signed a cooperation agreement today. To Lufthansa, this agreement represents a substantial increase in its online presence in the US, Canada, the UK, France and Germany.

Thierry Antinori, Executive Vice President Sales of Lufthansa German Airlines, remarks on the successful conclusion of the agreement: "The partnership with Expedia will strengthen our position in the online market and shows the importance of the online channel to Lufthansa. By cooperating with Expedia, Lufthansa can actively participate in the future of online travel development" 

Through this agreement, travellers that visit the various international Expedia sites will have access to the savings and value that Lufthansa provides as well as special promotional offers. Lufthansa will also use the local Expedia websites to communicate detailed information on services and marketing offers to the millions of Expedia users. 

"As we add to our base of partnerships, we certainly value this expanded agreement with Lufthansa, which will benefit customers across all of our sites" said Dhiren Fonseca, Vice President Sales for Expedia, Inc. 

Based on the multi-channel sales strategy of Lufthansa, electronic sales channels are still gaining in importance. Along with the continual improvement of its own website www.lufthansa.com, Lufthansa presses for a prominent positioning of its products with major online travel agencies.