Lufthansa offers to fly in empty, take out fliers

Lufthansa offers to fly in empty, take out fliers

Saurabh . Sinha@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:09.06.2020

In a first, a major foreign airline group has sought India’s nod to operate ferry flights (without passengers) to the country and fly out passengers from here till regular services are allowed.

German major Lufthansa has requested India to allow it and group airline Swiss to fly from some metros to its hubs in Europe — Frankfurt, Munich and Zurich. At the moment, Air India’s Vande Bharat Mission flights are the only connections for flying in and out of India apart from repatriation flights organised by foreign countries. “We are willing to operate only outbound (flights with passengers) from India if we are allowed to transport all categories of persons as per the MHA order...”

‘Other carriers too willing to operate flights like Lufthansa’

We are willing to operate only outbound (flights with passengers) from India if we are allowed to transport all categories of persons as per the order of ministry of home affairs and if we can publish a schedule in advance for an entire period. We had requested this from the ministry of civil aviation,” said a Lufthansa spokesperson.

The fares on these special flights is more that the fares charged on regular schedule services. For instance, Lufthansa group’s one-way Mumbai to Zurich and Frankfurt fares start at Rs 39,743 and Rs 38,273, respectively. India has suspended schedule international services till the month-end, for now. Aviation officials say some other carriers are also willing to operate flights like the ones proposed by Lufthansa — with passengers only on outbound from India. Others say they are keen to resume flights as soon as regular services are allowed.

The Air India website witnesses millions of hits whenever the airline opens bookings for Vande Bharat Mission flights to North America.