Tag Archives: Lufthansa

Germany plans to sell up to a quarter of its 20% stake in Lufthansa over the coming weeks, the German finance agency said on Monday, citing positive developments at the bailed-out airline. Lufthansa shares fell as much as 4.9% to 8.81 euros in early trade after the announcement. The state’s 20% stake was acquired for 300 million euros ($353.67 million) as part of a bailout for the German carrier as the company and the entire aviation sector took a battering from the coronavirus crisis.

German carrier Lufthansa has announced that it has lifted the ban on passenger flights to India, and will operate 10 weekly flights from Germany to Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru. The Netherlands, too, has lifted the ban on passenger flights from India that had come into force on April 26 this year. The European Union’s (EU) list of ‘safe countries’, however, does not include India yet.

Lufthansa has launched its ‘Calendar of Hope’ initiative with an aim to help street and slum children in India. In a collaborative effort to help spread hope with kindness, the airline has dedicated the 2021 edition of its iconic calendar to support the most vulnerable in the fight against the hardships of COVID-19. Lufthansa is partnering with ImpactGuru, a Harvard incubated start-up, for this initiative. This will ensure that 100 per cent of the contribution goes directly to help the children at Aasraa Trust, which supports over 3300 street children in Dehradun, as well as Sunshine Children Education Society, which gives shelter to over 250 slum children in Delhi.Dehradun

In September alone, Lufthansa will offer 160 flights between India and Germany, more than five per day and more than four times as many as in August. The airline will operate between Frankfurt and Munich and the key Indian cities of Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru. Ten weekly flights are scheduled for Delhi-Frankfurt, Delhi-Munich, Mumbai-Frankfurt and Bengaluru-Frankfurt. Lufthansa Group has also launched a free-of-charge re-booking policy for its customers regardless of the terms and conditions of their purchased tickets.

Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of Civil Aviation, has said that international operations will begin in air bubbles now, which will be active with a few countries including France, US and the UAE. He further revealed that air bubbles will operate for a while and only then will regular international operations begin. “Negotiations are at an advanced stage with at least three countries. We formally signed for Air France operating 28 flights from Paris to New Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru between 18th July and 1st August. Apart from that we have an agreement with United Airlines to operate 18 flights between 17th and 31st July. We have requests from Germany also, and the negotiations with Lufthansa are almost done. Some details have to be worked out,” he said.

Lufthansa has announced that it will not be able to provide its regular variety of beverages and meals presumably on Saturday, December 21 due to a strike called by the Verdi trade union at the Lufthansa Group catering company LSG Skychefs. The strike will affect catering loading at the Frankfurt and Munich hubs. This means that no meals and beverages will be offered on domestic and European flights to and from Frankfurt and Munich. Reduced catering will also be available on long-haul flights from Frankfurt and Munich. All long-haul flights to Frankfurt and Munich include the normal selection of meals and beverages. Additionally, Lufthansa will reimburse costs (up to a reasonable level and upon presenting a receipt) if customers purchase meals or beverages for themselves. Beverages should only be purchased after passing the security check. “Lufthansa regrets the inconvenience for its passengers. Customers transiting in Frankfurt and Munich or commencing their journey at these airports have access to catering stations in the transit and departure area. These catering stations will offer customers free snacks and beverages,” the airline said. For customers wishing to travel in a lower class, Lufthansa offers free rebooking to the next lower class if there is seat availability. Lufthansa will refund the difference. In exceptional cases, flights may be cancelled. Lufthansa passengers are requested to check the status of their flight on www.lufthansa.com prior to departure.

Lufthansa will offer five weekly flights from Frankfurt Airport to Austin – Bergstrom International Airport commencing on May 3, 2019. The airline will operate the Airbus A330-300 in a three-class cabin configuration offering customers business class (42), premium economy (28) and economy class (185) seats. Flights will be operated on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Optimally timed, flights arriving from India will connect perfectly to  LH468 departing from Frankfurt at 10:05 am and arriving in Austin at 2:20 pm. On the return, LH469 leaves Austin at 4:05 pm and arrives in Frankfurt at 9:10 on the following day thus comfortably reaching all departures to India. Paurus Nekoo, General Manager – Sales, India, Lufthansa Group, said, “With more and more Indians displaying a growing zeal for exploring the world, the launch of the new Frankfurt-Austin flight brings the world closer to Indians within the country as well as the Indian diaspora in Texas and Europe.”

Brussels Airlines will operate its last flight from Mumbai to Brussels on January 7, 2019. For economic reasons, the airline has decided to cease its flight service between India and Belgium. Customers continue to have smooth flight options via Frankfurt, Munich and Zurich with Lufthansa Group partners Lufthansa and SWISS. Brussels Airlines started its Mumbai-Brussels route in March 2017, venturing for the first time into the Indian subcontinent. After an initial 5-weekly service, the airline added a sixth frequency in the winter season of 2018. The flight service does however not deliver the anticipated results and Brussels Airlines has therefore taken the decision to withdraw from the route and use the flight capacity to reinforce its existing African network, the key intercontinental market of the Belgium based airline. Passengers continue to have ample alternative travel options via Frankfurt, Munich and Zurich thanks to the Lufthansa Group airlines Lufthansa and SWISS. Customers who are booked on Brussels Airlines flights to or from Mumbai after January 7 are being contacted by Brussels Airlines and are offered alternative travel solutions to their final destination.

German Airlines Lufthansa has completed 55 years of operations on Delhi – Frankfurt route on September 1, 2018. In June 1963, there were three flights a week to the far east. On Mondays and Wednesdays, the routing led from Duesseldorf via Frankfurt, Rome, Cairo, Dharan, Karachi, Calcutta, Bangkok and Hong Kong to Tokyo. On Fridays, the route led from Duesseldorf via Frankfurt, Rome, Cairo, Kuwait, Karachi, Kolkata, Bangkok and Hong Kong to Tokyo. As of September in the same year, the stop in India took place in New Delhi, instead of Kolkata. The flights were operated by a Boeing 720. Nowadays, Lufthansa operates the route by a A380 that covers the distance in a bit more than 7.5 hours. Delhi has always been a key market for Lufthansa and over the years, the airline has experienced healthy growth on the route as more customers experience world-class product and services. These include state-of-the-art products and best-in-class services such as in-flight entertainment and enhanced FlyNet allowing in-flight, high-speed internet to help stay connected with business partners or family on ground. Currently, Lufthansa Group and its carriers – Lufthansa, SWISS and Brussels Airlines, offer 61 flights from four Indian gateways, namely Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Bengaluru connecting to 343 destinations in more than 100 countries via its four European hubs of Frankfurt, Munich, Zurich and Brussels.

MakeMyTrip and Lufthansa Group have entered into a Direct Connect cooperation which gives customers access to innovative and even more competitive flight products.  Direct Connect is a distribution functionality that enables partners to use the Lufthansa Group’s API (application programming interface) for a direct access to the airlines’ inventories and rich content. The API software facilitates the travel partner to provide an enhanced customised offer for third parties. Wolfgang Will, Senior Director Sales South Asia for Lufthansa Group Airlines and Rajesh Magow, Co-founder & CEO India, MakeMyTrip jointly signed the cooperation. The new agreement allows MakeMyTrip to offer Lufthansa Group Airlines’ differentiated travel content to consumers with personalised flight products. Amongst other services, passengers can use the platform to conveniently purchase flight tickets and other services from Lufthansa German Airlines, SWISS, Brussels Airlines and Austrian Airlines without paying the 16 Euro Distribution Cost Charge applied to bookings made via traditional sales channels. “This Direct Connect Solution with MakeMyTrip is an incredible milestone in addressing the new-generation of travellers. MakeMyTrip as a Direct Connect Partner of Lufthansa Group in India is a key partner for our future developments in distribution,” Will said. “At MakeMyTrip, we are always looking to provide best content to our users to help make them best travel decisions. We are delighted to partner with Lufthansa and take another step in providing customised and more relevant offerings to better serve Indian travellers”,  said Magow.