The German national carrier has shown interest for partnership with Vistara, a joint venture between Tata and Singapore Airlines
German carrier Lufthansa is all set to boosts its presence in India. Other than flying its group airlines – Swiss is one of them – the carrier is interested at increased cooperation with Indian airlines. While Lufthansa is interested in cooperating with Air India — also a Star Alliance member like it — the German national carrier has shown interest for partnership with Vistara, a joint venture between Tata and Singapore Airlines.
“India, one of the most important airline markets worldwide, has seen a phenomenal recovery in air travel. We welcome the Tatas taking over Air India. Both Air India and Vistara have been long-term partners of our group and we hope to intensify our partnerships throughout India in the future,” Lufthansa’s VP (Asia Pacific) Elise Becker, who is responsible for the commercial activities of group airlines that includes managing all airline sales JVs and partnerships in the region, was quoted saying to ToI.
According to aviation industry experts, the partnerships could be in the form of tie-ups for aircraft maintenance and/or metal neutrality where, according to IATA, partner airlines share revenue and costs on a given route no matter which is doing the actual flying. This, according to the report, maximises the opportunity for pro-competitive efficiency gains from density economies. The former Jet Airways, incidentally, had a metal neutrality pact with Air France-KLM.
“Lufthansa is a founding member of Star Alliance. It has always been a pioneer in forming partnerships and has participated in joint ventures in North America and Asia. 2022-23 will be a year when Lufthansa Group will seek to continue its path to increase its partnership scope India,” Becker also said. With the world opening up for travel again, “almost half of our Asia Pacific flights are to India. We will be adding more flights here operated by Lufthansa and Swiss. India is a very important market for us and we are keen on forging even deeper ties with the country,” Becker told TOI.
The Lufthansa Group has plans to double flights to India to 42 frequencies by July — getting close to pre-pandemic levels. Lufthansa will resume Chennai-Frankfurt flights from April 29. It will operate its top aircraft to India, including the Boeing 747-8 and Airbus A350.
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