New Delhi: Leading European airline group Lufthansa Group Airlines is scouting for new partners in India. The group has a codeshare agreement with Air India under which the national carrier is connecting Lufthansa group's passengers from German carrier's four Indian gateways - Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Bangalore - to other cities in the country. The airline had a similar agreement with Jet Airways. But, since the grounding of Jet, the group is looking at new codeshares in the Indian market.
"Wherever Air India flies to, we have a codeshare. Now that Jet Airways has left the stage, we are looking at new codeshares to replace the ones that we have lost with Jet having being grounded," says George Ettiyil, Senior Director, Sales, South Asia at Lufthansa Group Airlines who has been heading the Indian operations for almost nine months.
Lufthansa group's codeshare agreement with Air India is not strictly bound to any number of seats. The agreement is beneficial for Air India as well because from Germany and Switzerland onwards, Air India passengers can fly to specific European destinations where the Indian national carrier does not operate.
Ettiyil says that a huge business is coming from Tier-II and Tier-III towns. "For any business to participate in the growth story of India, it needs to seriously look at Tier-II and Tier-III towns. This is true for Lufthansa as well. Ten years ago, four metros were catchment areas that we had to tackle, but business was coming from Tier-II cities. We have realised over the past four-five years that Tier-II and Tier-III are incredible growth stories. While the metros are growing without doubt, the potential of Tier-II and Tier-III cities is huge," he says.
As a European carrier, Lufthansa Group, which is starting Munich-to-Bangalore flight from April next year, is looking at its connectivity from the Tier-II and Tier-III cities to its gateways in India. That is where there is urgent need to find another codeshare partner.
01/10/19 Manu Kaushik/Business Today
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"Wherever Air India flies to, we have a codeshare. Now that Jet Airways has left the stage, we are looking at new codeshares to replace the ones that we have lost with Jet having being grounded," says George Ettiyil, Senior Director, Sales, South Asia at Lufthansa Group Airlines who has been heading the Indian operations for almost nine months.
Lufthansa group's codeshare agreement with Air India is not strictly bound to any number of seats. The agreement is beneficial for Air India as well because from Germany and Switzerland onwards, Air India passengers can fly to specific European destinations where the Indian national carrier does not operate.
Ettiyil says that a huge business is coming from Tier-II and Tier-III towns. "For any business to participate in the growth story of India, it needs to seriously look at Tier-II and Tier-III towns. This is true for Lufthansa as well. Ten years ago, four metros were catchment areas that we had to tackle, but business was coming from Tier-II cities. We have realised over the past four-five years that Tier-II and Tier-III are incredible growth stories. While the metros are growing without doubt, the potential of Tier-II and Tier-III cities is huge," he says.
As a European carrier, Lufthansa Group, which is starting Munich-to-Bangalore flight from April next year, is looking at its connectivity from the Tier-II and Tier-III cities to its gateways in India. That is where there is urgent need to find another codeshare partner.
01/10/19 Manu Kaushik/Business Today
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