To tap the post-Covid growth opportunities in the Indian aviation market, European airline major Lufthansa on Thursday said it will start flights on Munich-Bangalore and Frankfurt-Hyderabad routes this year. Lufthansa Group, which has been present in the Indian market for over 90 years, currently offers over 50 weekly services in India, connecting Frankfurt, Zurich and Munich to various Indian cities including Delhi and Mumbai.
Harry Hohmmeister, member of the executive board of Global Markets & Network, said here on Thursday that the Indian market is “very, very important” for the Lufthansa Group. Flights on the Munich-Bangalore route will be operational thrice a week, with the first flight taking place on 3 November. Flights on the Frankfurt-Hyderabad route will begin in the coming winter.
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“The expansion underlines Lufthansa’s long-term vision to strengthen its footprint in the Indian market by catering to the growing population of young working professionals,” it said in a release. According to Hohmeister, there is a lot of competition in India, including Dubai and Qatar, and it is something the group is accustomed to.
He said, “India is moving forward… Why should I just look at the competition? I’m not a fan of benchmarking. I’m a fan of designing my company in the right way and with a great team with the right products.” ” Said.
In the release, Lufthansa said it intends to make the best use of India’s untapped growth opportunity – especially in the post-Covid era – by offering consumers the most premium travel experience during their international trips for business or leisure. By doing
Hohmmeister also said that in the time of Covid, the Indian market was completely reorganizing itself and it was a completely different gameplay as compared to other markets. Regarding the rules in India, Hohmeister said that it is “something we have to live with … we have to work at it”.
In response to a question related to Air India, he said that it is a very interesting company. Both Lufthansa and Air India are part of Star Alliance. He added, “I’m happy to hear the developments from the partners. That’s always a good message…no airline can stand on its own…we need partners.”
The group will invest in premium products, he said, adding that it plans to employ over 20,000 people. Worldwide, the group has 1,09,509 employees and is expected to generate revenues of 32,770 million euros in fiscal year 2022. The Lufthansa Group consists of the Network Airlines, Eurowings and Aviation Services segments.