The Lufthansa Innovation Hub in Berlin, Germany, is the "digital innovation" unit of the global aviation conglomerate Lufthansa Group. The business is a wholly owned subsidiary of Deutsche Lufthansa AG.Was macht eigentlich der Lufthansa Innovation Hub? (German) Report on Gruenderszene.de dated February 15th, 2016, downloaded on November 9th, 2017Digitale Gedankenwinde für die Bundespolitik (German) Report on Politik-Kommunikation.de dated August 3rd, 2017, downloaded on November 11th, 2017 The business, whose managing director is Xavier Lagardère, VP of Innovation and Chief Data Officer of Lufthansa Group, has offices in Berlin and Singapore and brings together talent of the German startup ecosystem.Der Lufthansa wachsen digitale Flügel (German) Report in Wirtschaftswoche business magazine dated May 17th, 2016, downloaded on November 9th, 2017
History The Lufthansa Innovation Hub was created as a result of the Lufthansa Group's strategic initiative “7to1”, which was launched in July 2014. As part of this program, Lufthansa Group announced its intention to invest over 500 million Euro in innovations by 2020, including in the field of “innovation & digitization”. In 2019, the Lufthansa Innovation Hub opened a second office in Singapore.
Awards The Lufthansa Innovation Hub has been awarded the title of “Germany’s Best Digital Lab” by the German business magazine Capital several times, among others in 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021 and 2023. Furthermore, the Lufthansa Open API, which is a product of the Lufthansa Innovation Hub, was named a “Digital Leader” with an award from the IDG Publishing Group in June 2017.Die Gewinner des Digital Leader Award sind gekürt (German) Report of Computerwoche.de, downloaded November 5th, 2017 The digital travel assistant “Mission Control” and “AirlineCheckins.com), which were also developed by the Lufthansa Innovation Hub, were both named “Corporate Startup of the Year“ in 2016 and 2017.Corporate Startup Award Winners 2016 (German) Report downloaded from Der Innovationsblog on November 9th, 2017
Products The Lufthansa Innovation Hub develops solutions for the Lufthansa Group as well as for the broader travel and mobility tech industry. Among others, it developed a variety of travel-focused smartphone applications and web services launched in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Great Britain and South Korea, resulting in a five-figure number of new customers for Lufthansa Group.Lufthansa: Wie Carsten Spohr die Airline umkrempeln will (German) Report on Wirtschaftswoche.de dated June 14th, 2016, and downloaded on November 9th, 2017 Among others, the “Time2Gate” app,Der Lufthansa Innovation Hub liefert (German) reported in the Gruenderszene online magazine dated June 30th, 2015, downloaded on November 9th, 2017 which is designed to show passengers the fastest way to their gate, was included in the company's portfolio as well as the AirlineCheckins.com.Never Check In for a Flight Again, Thanks to Lufthansa Report of Condé Nast Traveler dated February 24th, 2016, downloaded on November 9th, 2017 The Lufthansa Open API established an open programming interface that allows startups and other third parties to integrate Lufthansa Group data in their own applications. The roadmap includes the option for flight bookings to be made via the interface as well Gewinner des Digital Leader Award sind gekürt (German) Report on Computerwoche.de, downloaded November 5th, 2017 Acting on behalf of the Lufthansa Group Airline, Eurowings, the Lufthansa Innovation Hub developed a “ten-ticket-pass for flying” using a model that is widespread in local public transportation networks.Die 10-Karte bei Eurowings (German) Reported by WDR radio station on February 14th, 2016, downloaded on November 8th, 2017 The Lufthansa Innovation Hub also works with the American startup accelerator Plug and Play Tech Center to seek new strategic partners in Silicon Valley.Auf Einkaufstour im Silicon Valley (German) reported in Der Westen newspaper on August 13th, 2016, downloaded on November 9th, 2017 In 2019, the Lufthansa Innovation Hub developed Compensaid, a solution that allows passengers to offset their CO2 emissions during the booking process, for example, through financial compensation or Sustainable Aviation Fuel. The Lufthansa Innovation Hub has also founded several new startups. In 2021, the mobility budget platform NAVIT (formerly known as RYDES) and SQUAKE, a solution for calculating and compensating CO2 emissions, were spun off. In spring 2023, the Lufthansa Innovation Hub, in collaboration with Miles&More, launched the NFT trading card app Uptrip, which complements existing Miles & More services. It allows passengers of Lufthansa Group airlines to scan their boarding pass in the app and exchange it for NFT trading cards. The cards can be combined into various collections, which, once complete, can be redeemed for rewards such as airport lounge access or flight upgrades. Current ventures at the Lufthansa Innovation Hub include the team offsite platform cloopio and the AI business travel assistant Swifty.
See also Lufthansa Eurowings Miles & More
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