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Mr Werner Heesen, General Manager, Passenger Sales, India and Director, South Asia, Lufthansa, at a press conference in the Capital on Wednesday. - Kamal Narang

New Delhi , Aug. 10

THE German airline Lufthansa is not only exploring business opportunities in aviation related activities in India but also plans to increase the flights it operates to Bangalore and Delhi from November this year, the airlines' General Manager, Passenger Sales, India, Mr Werner Heesen, said here on Wednesday.

Addressing a press conference, Mr Heesen said Lufthansa would offer a daily flight from not only Frankfurt to Bangalore but also enhance operations between Delhi and Munich to a daily service from November this year. The airline is also keen to expand its flights to Hyderabad and other cities in Eastern India, Maharashtra and Gujarat although no firm decision has been taken on this as yet.

Besides, a subsidiary of the airline, Lufthansa Technik, is in advance stages of setting up a Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility here though the quantum of funds and the place where the new project is to come up are yet to be decided.

"Lufthansa firmly believes in sustaining the business opportunities in India and is well prepared to cope with the challenges in the future," Mr Heesen said.

Meanwhile, the existing cooperation between Air India and Lufthansa is all set to expand further with officials of the two airlines scheduled to meet in Germany on August 23. The two airlines entered into a memorandum of understanding in August 2003 to establish broad-based strategic cooperation in various fields including engineering, commercial and IT services.

However, the issue of AI joining the global airline alliance, Star Alliance will not be taken up at the forthcoming meeting, Mr Heesen said.

Commenting on the impact of the rains in Mumbai on the operations of the airline, Mr Heesen said Lufthansa was forced to cancel flights on four successive days. "The Senator lounge in Mumbai that we use for first and business class passengers is shut. However, it is difficult to assess the exact extent of the damage as yet," he added.

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Lufthansa plans to increase Bangalore, Delhi flights

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