Germanwings GmbH is a German low-cost airline based in Cologne, which is wholly owned by Lufthansa. Its main hubs are Cologne Bonn Airport, Stuttgart Airport, Hamburg Airport, Berlin Tegel Airport and Düsseldorf Airport.
Since 2013 Germanwings offers three fare types called Basic, Smart and Best which include different services. While Basic is a classic no-frills offer that features hand-luggage only and no free catering, Best includes hold baggage, free snacks and drinks as well as access to some lounges for tier members of Miles&More. Therefore Smart and Best are more or less comparable to the product that Lufthansa offered on the routes taken over by Germanwings. The fleet is equipped with economy class only.
Germanwings operates the additional Sky Bistro (Bord Shop in German), a buy on board programme offering food and drinks for purchase. The airline also provides an inflight magazine, a bi-monthly German and English magazine called GW. While the primary editorial focus is rooted in Germanwings destinations, the content is not exclusively about travel.
As for its booking services, Germanwings provides a unique option called Blind Booking that allows passengers to choose one of Germanwings' base airports, select a category of destination (e.g. Party, Gay-friendly or Culture), and then purchase a round-trip ticket via a random lottery process from among the cities in the category. Such tickets are often priced lower than the corresponding ticket to the same destination, and Germanwings e-mails its customers their destination shortly after the purchase.