Gulf airlines continue Southeast Asia push. Should Lufthansa & Singapore Airlines respond with a JV?

Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines have steadily been losing market share to the Gulf carriers. The two carriers have tried to use product upgrades to improve their position in the Asia-Europe market but have enlisted little help from potential partners - for example, each other.

Despite their Star Alliance membership, partnership is hardly the core of their relationship. Should they - and more critically, can they? - set aside their differences to combat their greater enemy?

Lufthansa and SIA together account for about 27% of non-stop Southeast Asia-Western Europe seat capacity. But when also counting passengers flown through all connecting points their share of the market is only 13%, according to OAG Traffic Analyser data. Emirates alone has 12% of the market, and once Etihad and Qatar are added, 27% of passengers between Southeast Asia and Western Europe now transits with the three Gulf carriers.