Lastminute.com joins forces with Lufthansa

Lastminute.com, the high-profile holiday bookings and retail website, has signed a global marketing partnership with airline Lufthansa.

Lufthansa will arrange exclusive flight discounts and packages for Lastminute’s sites in the UK, France, Italy, Spain, Sweden and South Africa.

In return, Lastminute will market the airline through on-site banner advertising and its e-mail newsletter sent to its 4 million customers. No financial details have been revealed.

Lufthansa executive vice-president of sales Thierry Antinori says: “This co-operation marks another step in developing Lufthansa’s online potential and enables it to expand on its lead position in Europe.”

Martha Lane Fox, group managing director and co-founder of Lastminute.com, says the company will “work hard to build Lufthansa’s online sales”. The move is part of Lastminute’s strategy to develop partnerships with high-profile companies. Last month the company announced a deal with Microsoft whereby users of Windows Messenger are able to have personalised information on Lastminute deals sent straight to their computer.

Lastminute.com is the leading provider of holidays online, according to MMXI’s September 2001 figures, and provides deals through 8,500 suppliers.

The site was launched in 1998 and swiftly created European sites during the dot-com boom of 1999. The South Africa website was launched last year.

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