Lufthansa Group has signed a codeshare agreement with Hong Kong-based oneworld member Cathay Pacific Airways, beginning April 26, as the German carrier follows through on its expansion strategy to partner with non-Star Alliance members.
The codeshare also includes Lufthansa Group subsidiaries Austrian Airlines and Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS).
The agreement covers Cathay Pacific flights with LH/LX/OS designator codes between Hong Kong to Sydney, Melbourne and Cairns in Australia and Auckland in New Zealand. Cathay will place its CX designator code on 14 Lufthansa, SWISS and Austrian European flights.
“This new codeshare agreement will offer Cathay Pacific passengers enhanced connectivity to destinations in continental Europe through flights operated by Lufthansa, SWISS and Austrian via our gateways in Frankfurt, Dusseldorf and Zurich,” Cathay Pacific CEO Ivan Chu said in a statement.
Lufthansa Group CEO Carsten Spohr called the codeshare a “ground-breaking partnership.” He added, “The codeshare and frequent flyer agreement between Lufthansa, Austrian, SWISS and Cathay Pacific Airways brings advantages for the passengers of all the partners, because the airlines’ route networks complement each other perfectly.”
Spohr said the cooperation with Cathay Pacific is another key building block in Lufthansa’s Asia strategy and supplements existing commercial joint ventures with Star alliance airlines ANA, Singapore Airlines and Air China.
Airfreight subsidiaries of both carriers, Cathay Pacific Cargo and Lufthansa Cargo, signed a cooperation agreement in May 2016 and—since February 2017—have been jointly marketing their capacities on flights between Hong Kong and Europe.
On Feb. 1, Lufthansa signed a commercial partnership agreement with  Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways that will see the two companies cooperate via codeshares and across catering and MRO services.
On March 16, Lufthansa signed a codeshare agreement with Kazakhstan flag carrier Air Astana, which began March 26. Neither Etihad nor Air Astana are members of any of the three global alliances.