Lufthansa A380 loses to Emirates at Mumbai again

Just what is going on at Mumbai airport? I ask because, yet again, Lufthansa appears to have lost out in its bid to launch A380 service to this major Indian city.

As we reported recently, Lufthansa was intending to launch A380 flights to Mumbai from the start of the winter timetable on October 26.

At the same time, Emirates would "downgrade" its existing A380 service to a more modest B777-300ER.

But in a change of tack, Mumbai appears to have reversed its decison. Emirates will now continue its daily A380 flight throughout the winter while Lufthansa will still operate its B747-400 on the route, reports the Times of India. When Business Traveller checked both airlines’ schedules we found the latter had been revised.

Lufthansa out to woo travellers with new Indian avatar

Chennai: German airline Lufthansa is putting a lot more emotion in its TV commercial to create brand awareness in India. Its first television commercial ever to be telecast outside Germany, airing on TV sets here now, is to woo Indian customers by saying travel is not only about precision, safety and efficiency but also a lot about emotions.

The commercial, says Wolfgang Will, Director, South Asia, Lufthansa, reflects the “soul of Germany with the heart of India”. It has brought into play that emotional factor, which was not well represented so far, he explains, in an interview to BusinessLine. “There will more such commercials in future,” he adds .

Why Lufthansa and British Airways are professing love for India

They are the latest Indophiles. Only that they happen to be brands. In recent times, there have been two noteworthy cases of international airlines that have tried to appeal hard to the Indian psyche.
One of them, the German carrier Lufthansa, would like you to believe that the brand is ‘more Indian than you think’.
The other, British Airways, tries to lure the pardesi (Indian expat) back into his mother’s arms, never mind if this is a scene one is used to seeing in Hindi films. But when British Airways launched a big digital campaign, less than a year back, it was Maa ke haath ka khana (mum’s cooking) that was the biggest emotion it played upon.

No parking bay, Lufthansa Boeing 747-8 to skip Mumbai

Mumbai: Lufthansa will not fly its Boeing 747-8 to Mumbai from next week, as the city airport does not have enough parking bays to handle the jumbo aircraft. However, the airline will continue to fly the Boeing 747-400 aircraft on the Frankfurt-Mumbai route.

The airport has only one in-contact (here aerobridge-linked) parking bay that can handle planes with wide-wing span such as Boeing 747-8 and Airbus A380.

The only available bay has been allocated to Emirates, which will operate A380 aircraft to Mumbai from July 21. The issue arose because schedules of Lufthansa and Emirates flights at Mumbai are separated by just five minutes.

Foreign airlines like Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines and others bring more business class seats to India

Mumbai: Foreign carriers are bringing a higher number of business class seats in their flights on India on growing demand as positive sentiment returns to the country's economy. German flag carrier and Europe's biggest airline Lufthansa has brought in its new Boeing 747-800 on the Mumbai-Frankfurt route on which it currently operates the 747-400. That will increase the number of business class seats to 80 from 66, making it the foreign carrier offering the most seats in this class to India. The total capacity per flight increases 10% to 386 seats.
"Our entire upper deck and a part of the lower deck will have business class seats," Wolfgang Will, director, south Asia for the carrier told ET in a recent interview.

Lufthansa banks on Air India to check Gulf carriers

The impending entry of Air India into Star Alliance, the biggest grouping of airlines globally, has got Lufthansa excited as it may help the German carrier check the growing dominance of Gulf carriers in Indian skies.

Air India's entry into Star alliance, which was mentored by Lufthansa, is likely to be a reality by July. Wolfgang Will, director, South Asia for Lufthansa, recently in an interview told dna Air India's entry would benefit both airlines in terms of giving access to newer geographies. "They (gulf carriers) are growing and we respect that. But that does not mean we should be afraid because we feel that, you can sell your product well on the basis of good quality and reach," he said.

Aviation policy should look at potential of India: Wolfgang Will

Lufthansa Airlines is not new to the Indian market. The German carrier has seen the Indian aviation market for more than 55 years now. With increasing influx of foreign carriers in the country, Lufthansa too is gearing up to offer better products and services in this market. With India being one of the top 5 markets for the airline, it is optimistic about the growth in the sector as the new government takes charge. In dna's ongoing series of interviews, Wolfgang Will, director - South Asia, shares his company's plans, and views on policy rejigs required in the country with Yuga Chaudhari.
What are the key immediate steps that the new government should take for the aviation industry?
If you ask an airline operator, he will always repeat and talk about high taxation and fees in India. That's always for us an area that is worrying. High fuel prices, too, unfortunately have been increasing constantly in the last five years.

Lufthansa wants to fly super-jumbo A380s in India, seeks government nod

German carrier Lufthansa on Wednesday said it plans to operate high-capacity double-deck Airbus A380 aircraft in India from the winter schedule for which it has approached the government for permission. The proposed deployment of the super-jumbo plane on some of its local routes is a part of the airline's India growth plans that it had chalked for the fast-growing market, a senior Lufthansa official said in Mumbai.

"We have interest in operating super-jumbo from at least two important hubs - Delhi and Mumbai - to begin with from the winter schedule. We have already approached the Government seeking its approval and I think it should happen in the upcoming weeks," Lufthansa Director (South Asia) Wolfgang Will said in Mumbai. The winter schedule for airlines in India commences from March-end every year and lasts up to October.

"We will operate them wherever we can but it will also depend on the availability of the aircraft," he added.