Lufthansa resumes Kolkata-Frankfurt flight

With security at London’s Heathrow airport still being a concern, US-bound passengers from Kolkata may find a respite in German airline Lufthansa which resumed its Frankfurt to Kolkata flight. About 40 per cent of Lufthansa’s passengers from India go beyond Frankfurt, mainly to the United States. Lufthansa has resumed its operation from Kolkata after a gap of 35 years, with the first flight from Frankfurt reaching the city early morning on Saturday. Lufthansa had stopped its flights in 1971 on security grounds owing to the Naxalite agitation in the State. The Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt will operate thrice weekly, with fares for economy class priced at Rs 19,600. Kolkata has become the sixth destination of the German airline operator after Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad.

It now runs 45 flights weekly from the country. India has also become the sixth country for the carrier in the Asia Pacific region. The airline is also planning to serve traditional Bengali food to its customers from March 2007. Thierry Antinori, executive vice-president, marketing and sales of the airline, said it plans to operate in at least 10 routes from India within the next couple of years. India is at the number two position in terms of revenue in the Asia Pacific region for the Lufthansa group, Japan being in the first place. While Japan contributes 40 per cent to the total revenue, India contributes 18 per cent. China comes third. The Asia Pacific region forms 20 per cent of the total revenue globally.

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