'Lufthansa working cloesely with Air India to expand operations in country': CEO Carsten Spohr

Lufthansa Group CEO Carsten Spohr on Sunday announced that the airline is working closely with Air India to expand its operations in India. “We have strengthened our position in the Indian market. We think we can do more… flying more, a new partnership with Air India which is a different company than it was before to grow our market share,” he said. During a media briefing, Spohr revealed a two-fold strategy for India and one pillar is to expand the operations to the country. His comments came along the sidelines of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Annual General Meeting (AGM) and World Air Transport Summit in Istanbul. He added, “We have just announced reopening Frankfurt-Hyderabad (service) which we had to close a few years ago. We will also be for the first time serving Bangalore from Munich. We are using our own airplanes, and operations to expand into India.” For the unversed, both Air India and Lufthansa are part of the Star Alliance group. Spohr noted that Lufthansa has been working successfully in India for the past couple of years. Lufthansa Group, which has been present in the Indian market for more than 90 years, currently has more than 50 weekly services to India, connecting Frankfurt, Zurich and Munich with various Indian cities, including Delhi and Mumbai. “I look at India as being an opportunity… We have done nice business… Indian upper middle-class wealth very much looks at Europe as a way to spend,” the CEO noted. In April, the group said it would start flights on Munich-Bangalore and Frankfurt-Hyderabad routes this year as it looks to tap the post-Covid growth opportunities in the Indian aviation market. The flights on the Munich-Bangalore route will be operational three times a week and the first flight will be on November 3. On the Frankfurt-Hyderabad route, the flights will commence in the coming winter. At that time, Lufthansa had said it intends to make the best of India’s untapped growth opportunity - especially in the post-Covid era - by providing consumers with the most premium travel experiences during their international trips, be it for business or leisure. Lufthansa Group comprises the segments of Network Airlines, Eurowings and Aviation Services. Worldwide, the group has 1,09,509 employees and generated revenues of 32,770 million euros in the financial year 2022. With inputs from PTI Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook_,_  Twitter and  Instagram_._