Welche Strecken wurden konkret
übernommen?
Rogler: Von Stuttgart aus hat German-
wings von Lufthansa die Flüge nach Bil-
bao, London-Heathrow, Brüssel, Man-
chester, Mailand-Malpensa und Bremen
übernommen. Außerdem bieten wir un-
seren Kunden in Süddeutschland als neue
europäische Destinationen Venedig, Cat-
ania auf Sizilien und Dubrovnik an.
Frau Rogler, Sie sind für Germanwings
in Stuttgart tätig. Meist werden Sie als
das „Gesicht der Germanwings in Ba-
den Württemberg“ vorgestellt. Was
kann man sich unter Ihrem Job
vorstellen?
Rogler: Für Germanwings ist die genaue
Marktkenntnis sehr wichtig. Dies gilt ins-
besondere für den zweitgrößten Standort
Stuttgart. Natürlich „ticken“ die Schwa-
ben in manchen Dingen anders als
beispielsweise die Rheinländer und so bin
ich gewissermaßen der „Außensatellit“ in
Stuttgart, der für die Standortentwick-
lung Stuttgart verantwortlich ist. Mein
Aufgabenbereich umfasst die Betreuung
und Akquise von Firmenkunden ebenso
wie die Planung von Marketing- Kampag-
nen. Auch die Betreuung der Stationen
Dresden, Leipzig, München und Frie-
drichshafen gehören zu meinen Aufga-
ben. In meinen Augen habe ich einen der
spannendsten Jobs bei Germanwings: ich
arbeite sehr eigenverantwortlich und
selbstständig, habe mit einem kleinen
Team große Entscheidungsfreiheiten und
ziehe doch mit den Kollegen in Köln an
einem Strang.
Herr Schlüter, Sie sind Senior Vice
President Sales & Corporate Develop-
ment. Was genau steckt dahinter?
Schlüter: Gemeinsam mit meinen Kol-
leginnen und Kollegen stellen wir sicher,
dass der Kunde uns überall dort buchen
kann, wo er dies verlangt. Ob im Internet,
in Reisebüros, bei Firmen, im Callcenter
oder auch im Bereich von Social Media.
Die größte Innovation in letzter Zeit war
die Kooperation mit Lufthansa, die heute
für uns Germanwings Flüge in den sogen-
annten Computer Reservierungssyste-
men verkauft. Damit sind Germanwings
Flüge über beinahe jedes Reisebüro in
Europa zu buchen.
Im Bereich
Corporate Development
versuchen wir, umfassend das Unterneh-
men Germanwings weiter zu entwickeln.
Ein wesentliches Thema dabei ist der
Ausbau der Germanwings zur größten
Fluggesellschaft in Baden-Württemberg.
Hier ist auch der Berührungspunkt zu
meinem dritten Verantwortungsbereich,
demRegionalmanagement. Wenn man so
will, kommen in Stuttgart eigentlich alle
Themenfelder zusammen: Vertrieb und
strategische Weiterentwicklung mit
einem hohen Maß an regionaler Kompe-
tenz. Das Ganze mit dem Ziel, den Kunden
„
Fliegen made in Germany“ anzubieten.
Überraschend günstig.
NUMBER ONE IN
STUTTGART
The story of the pocket-sized
Germanwings destination Stuttgart
began nine years ago, since when
Germanwings has developed into the
largest airline flying into the Swabian
capital. In 2012, every fourth passenger
passing through Stuttgart airport has
been flying with Germanwings. Behind this
growth lie several years of building up the
destination and a team lead by two people.
As senior vice-president, 44-year-old
Gregor Schlüter was responsible for
regional management as well as sales
and development of the business. Manja
Rogler, at 36, is director of regional
management for southern Germany.
Together they ensured that the marked
growth of Germanwings in Stuttgart was
implemented successfully.
This year Germanwings is celebrating
its 10th birthday. Born in Cologne, the
low-cost airline set up base in
Stuttgart just a year later with a small
handful of destinations. That sounds
manageable.
Schlüter: And so it was. We started off
on 15 September 2003 deploying two
aeroplanes flying to eight destinations out
of Stuttgart. Today we fly to 48 European
destinations, have 10 aeroplanes based
here, convey more than two million
passengers to and from Stuttgart, and
have created 310 jobs in the city.
At the time, did you believe that one
day Germanwings would be a market
leader in Stuttgart?
Rogler: It was clear from the beginning
that we would expand Stuttgart into a
destination that was important for us. Just
look at the catchment area. Eight million
people live in the region surrounding
the airport and economic indicators
are extremely high: at 40%, Baden-
Württemberg has the highest export quota
in all of Germany. Firms such as Daimler,
Porsche, Bosch, Würth, Boss and Stihl
are just some of the larger well-known
companies that have their headquarters
here. Also of great importance is the
strength of small and medium-sized
enterprises. Income per capita is one of
the highest in Germany and unemployment
is very low. What’s more, Stuttgart is
the doorway to some wonderful tourist
destinations.
Stuttgart surely didn’t become
Germanwings’ second most
important location overnight.
How exactly did it happen?
Schlüter: That’s correct, healthy growth
takes time and must be based on solid
foundations. By continuously developing
the routes, Germanwings has become
an important partner for the airport and
for Baden-Württemberg. We have firmly
anchored Germanwings within the region
and built up a network of cooperative
partnerships in the areas of business,
marketing, media and tourism. We also
have a presence and are active within
the cultural arena and different ethnic
communities. It is important for us that in
Stuttgart, we are the airline for local people.
This year Germanwings has absorbed
new destinations into its portfolio for
Baden-Württemberg. These include
routes that until now have partly been
served by your parent company,
Lufthansa. Is the child taking
business away from the parent?
Schlüter: It’s not quite like that. Since
the summer of 2012, Germanwings has
indeed been flying from Stuttgart to all the
European destinations that Lufthansa used
to fly. The domestic destinations, however,
continue to be served by both airlines,
albeit with a coordinated flight schedule.
For the first time this restructured network
planning has optimised the airline route
network for Germanwings and Lufthansa.
You could say that Stuttgart is being used
as a guinea pig, providing an important
role model.
And which routes are being taken
over from Lufthansa?
Rogler: Germanwings is taking over
flights from Stuttgart to Bilbao, London-
Heathrow, Brussels, Manchester, Milan-
Malpensa and Bremen. On top of that, new
European destinations are being offered to
passengers in southern Germany, namely
Venice, Catania (Sicily) and Dubrovnik.
Manja Rogler, you work for
Germanwings in Stuttgart. You are
often presented as ‘the face of
Germanwings in Baden-
Württemberg’. Can you explain what
your job entails?
Rogler: A precise understanding of the
market is very important for Germanwings.
And in particular for the second largest
location, Stuttgart. Swabians have a
different mentality in some regards to,
say, Rhinelanders, and I am kind of an
outpost and thus responsible for the
development of the Stuttgart site. My
remit includes looking after and acquiring
corporate accounts as well as planning
marketing campaigns. I also look after
the destinations Dresden, Leipzig,
Munich and Friedrichshafen. To my mind,
I have one of the most exciting jobs at
Germanwings: I work autonomously and
independently; together with my team I
enjoy great freedom to make decisions,
and I also work closely with my colleagues
in Cologne.
Gregor Schlüter, you are senior vice
president sales and corporate
development. What does that
involve precisely?
Schlüter: Together with my colleagues
I ensure that passengers can book with
us wherever they want. Whether on
the internet, in a travel agency, with a
company, through a call centre or via social
media. The greatest innovation of recent
years is our cooperation with Lufthansa,
which means that they sell Germanwings
flights from their computer reservation
system. This means that tickets for
Germanwings can be purchased in virtually
every travel agency in Europe.
In terms of corporate development,
we are aiming to develop Germanwings’
business even further. An essential
element of this is to grow Germanwings
into the largest airline in Baden-
Württemberg, which leads straight to the
third arm of my responsibility, regional
management. If you will, the different
elements come together in Stuttgart:
corporate and strategic development with
a large element of regional competence.
All leading to one goal, offering passengers
‘
Flying Made in Germany’ – and at
surprisingly low rates.
GW—
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