The Hindu Business Line : Lufthansa to firm up expansion plans by June

LUFTHANSA, the German airline, which proposes to firm up expansion plans for India during the second half of 2004, is set to provide a new flying experience to its Indian passengers from June this year, that of accessing the worldwide Web in the sky.

"The expansion plans for India should be firmed up by the middle of this year and could affect the summer schedule for 2005," the Lufthansa General Manager, Passenger Sales, India, and Director, South Asia, Mr Werner Heesen, told Business Line.

The airline recently started a thrice-a-week service on the Delhi-Munich sector which it hopes to convert into a daily flight shortly, apart from utilising the Government's `open sky' policy to launch additional flights to Bangalore.

Besides, it is also looking at the viability of operating to new destinations, including some in south India. In addition, experts from both Air India and Lufthansa are working on having more code-share agreements between the two airlines.

Lufthansa has a code-share agreement with Air India under which it operates seven flights a week, including four on the Delhi-Frankfurt sector and three on the Mumbai-Frankfurt sector.

However, from June this year, it will be the Delhi-Munich sector passengers who will have access to `FlyNet' the new on-board broadband Internet connectivity which offers the passenger the ability to surf the Web and allows the user to send and receive emails. Besides, passengers will also have access to corporate intranet and email.

"From June 9 this year, the Airbus A-340-300 aircraft being operated on the Delhi-Munich sector will offer FlyNet. The facility will be available on all three classes. India is one of the first long-haul markets to get this. It will be introduced on all the Indian routes operated by the airline by 2006," Mr Heesen said

Lufthansa currently operates 29 flights a week to India, including offering a daily flight on the Delhi-Frankfurt, Chennai-Frankfurt and Mumbai-Frankfurt sectors. This apart, it operates a five-times-a-week service to Bangalore.

India is considered as an important market for Lufthansa. It was the third largest market for the airline in the Asia-Pacific region in terms of revenue during 2001-02, contributing over 13.2 per cent of overall revenues during the year.