Lufthansa group to add 12 flights on India network

German aviation group Lufthansa will add 12 flights on its India network and deploy larger aircraft on Chennai-Frankfurt sector from the coming winter.

The group will offer 78 weekly flights to and from India as against 66 now, a company release said here today.

The Group operates Lufthansa Airlines, Swiss Air and Austrian Airlines in India and flies across seven destinations -- New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Pune.

"Swiss, Austrian and Lufthansa will together offer 78 weekly flights from seven Indian destinations in the upcoming winter schedule," the release said.

The winter schedule of airlines in India begins from October 29.

As part of capacity expansion, Lufthansa will increase the frequency of its Pune-Frankfurt flights to four per week from the present three, it said, adding the carrier would deploy a larger A340-600 aircraft on Chennai-Frankfurt route.

This aircraft has about 80 additional seats compared to the A340-300 used currently. The larger aircraft will be operated on six days a week on this route, which continues to be served daily.

Swiss Air and Austrian Airlines will offer even more flights from Indian destinations to Frankfurt, Munich, Zurich and Vienna following the capacity expansion.

From the coming winter, Swiss Air-operated Delhi-Zurich and Mumbai-Zurich flights would become daily from the present 6 and 5 a week respectively, the release stated.

At the same time, Austrian Airlines would add Mumbai to its global network and operate five weekly flights connecting the Indian financial capital with Vienna and the carrier's eastern and central European network.

After the proposed capacity augmentation is implemented, the airline would become the leading European connectivity provider for Indian travellers, it said.

"By improving connectivity from India's key gateways to four European hubs with an unrivalled number of onward destinations, our airline Group supports the needs of India's growing need for international mobility," Lufthansa's South Asia Director Axel Hilgers said.

Swiss' winter flight increases reinforce the airline's commitment to India and proves that its recent investments in this key growth market are paying off, Swiss General Manger (India) Jean-Philippe Benoit said.

All Lufthansa Group airlines- Lufthansa, Austrian, bmi, Brussels Airlines and Swiss - will start their winter flight schedules at the end of October.

Together, the five airlines will then serve more than 200 destinations in 81 countries on four continents with their own as well as numerous code-share flights, the release added.