Lufthansa wins fifth Skytrax star even as German flights at risk

Lufthansa was handed a fifth star from ratings service Skytrax, making it the first airline outside the Middle East and Asia to secure the ranking. The German company, which received the award in Frankfurt on Monday, becomes the 10th carrier to achieve a rating CEO Carsten Spohr has been chasing since his predecessor set it as a target in 2013.Lufthansa made securing a fifth star part of push to improve service levels that had trailed much of the rest of the industry, including European peers. The carrier came late to the flat-bed revolution, introducing the seats in business class only in 2013, a decade after pioneer BA, and was years behind others in adding premium-economy-class cabins on long-haul jets. Spohr’s campaign was frustrated by pilot and cabin crew strikes, as well as inconsistent standards as the company rolled out new features. While the main union conflicts have been resolved, the award comes against a background of uncertainty over Air Berlin flights that Lufthansa has taken over, with Spohr hinting that they may be scrapped if early antitrust approval is withheld. Unlike Skytrax’s annual passenger-feedback-based ranking of airlines, carriers must pay as much as E25,000 a year to be part of the star ratings, which require an extensive audit. Lufthansa sees the award as an extra tool with which to fend off fast-expanding Persian Gulf operators and edge ahead of local rivals BA and Air France-KLM Group. <br/>