It is not really surprising that the South Tyrolean airline Skyalps will not fly between Friedrichshafen and Frankfurt am Main, contrary to euphoric announcements from Lake Constance Airport. The background is simple: Lufthansa does not enter into any codeshare and/or interlining cooperation with the regional carrier.

Since the beginning of the 2024 summer flight schedule period, the hub connection to the Kranich hub in Frankfurt am Main has been history - at least for the time being. The same applies to Linz and Innsbruck. In all three cases, Germany's largest airline argued that due to the A320neo engine problems, the Lufthansa Cityline and Air Dolomiti jets would be needed on other routes. From Innsbruck you try – again – to offer a shuttle bus to Munich as an alternative. How long this will be offered this time is questionable. In previous attempts this was quickly discontinued due to lack of use by passengers.

After the bad news delivered by Lufthansa, Friedrichshafen Airport was extremely confident that Skyalps would take over the Frankfurt route in cooperation with the crane. However, it is precisely this collaboration that did not come about because the South Tyrolean aviation company does not have an IOSA safety audit, which is the minimum standard for cooperation with the Lufthansa Group.

According to reports - just like in Lin and Innsbruck - the ideas diverged. Skyalps is said to have sought a pure interlining agreement. This would allow passengers to change trains, but a Skyalps ticket and a Lufthansa ticket would each be combined for a full fare. Compared to codeshare or self-directed flights, passengers would have incurred significantly higher costs. Lufthansa obviously knew full well that Friedrichshafen is in the shadow of Munich and back, so travelers “switch” there if the tickets are cheaper.