The Lufthansa Group and Air India will expand their strategic partnership.
In the future, airlines of the Lufthansa Group together with Air India and Air India Express will develop joint business initiatives for co-marketing and enhancing the customer experience.
The two groups are already operating codeshare flights on 146 routes connecting India and 42 cities in 22 European countries. For the Lufthansa Group, India is the second-largest premium long-haul market after the United States, and strengthening their cooperation is expected to drive further growth.
As a first step, they will expand services between India and the Lufthansa Group’s home markets of Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, and Italy, with a focus on joint marketing. In the second phase, they plan to extend the partnership to the remaining European Union markets and the Indian subcontinent. Specific routes and scope will be decided after the signing of a joint business agreement, subject to regulatory approvals.
A free trade agreement has been concluded between India and the European Union (EU), and further growth is expected. The EU is India’s largest partner for trade in goods, with annual bilateral trade in goods reaching 180 billion euros. Together, the EU and India account for one quarter of the world’s population and global gross domestic product (GDP).
