Lufthansa is reorganising its frequent-flyer programme into a standalone business division.

Restructuring the “Miles & More” scheme as a separate legal entity is not a step to selling it to external investors, but is a means of realising greater entrepreneurial freedom and growing the business, said chief executive Christoph Franz during a results briefing today.

The move should help speed the introduction of new services and establish new co-operation agreements with external partners. Lufthansa plans to strengthen partnerships with suppliers beyond the airline industry and improve offerings for customers who are not frequent flyers.

Unlike other divisions such as the airline’s maintenance and catering arms Lufthansa Technik and LSG, the new unit will not report its financial results separately, says Franz.

Lufthansa declined to specify the current business volume of the programme. Franz says there are about five million participants and around 300 international partner companies.

The legal restructuring is to be implemented in July

Source: Cirium Dashboard