To tap the post-Covid growth opportunities in the Indian aviation market, European airline major Lufthansa on Thursday said it will start flights on Munich-Bangalore and Frankfurt-Hyderabad routes this year. Lufthansa Group, which has been present in the Indian market for more than 90 years, currently has more than 50 weekly services to India, connecting Frankfurt, Zurich, and Munich with various Indian cities, including Delhi and Mumbai.


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The Indian market is "very, very important" for the Lufthansa Group, Harry Hohmeister, Member of the Executive Board Global Markets & Network, said here on Thursday. The flights on the Munich-Bangalore route will be operational three times a week, and the first flight will be on November 3. On the Frankfurt-Hyderabad route, the flights will commence in the coming winter.


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"The expansion underlines Lufthansa's long-term vision to strengthen its footprint in the Indian market by catering to the growing population of young working professionals," it said in a release. According to Hohmeister, there is a lot of competition in India, including via Dubai and Qatar, and it is something that the group is used to.


"India is on the move... Why should I just look at competition? I am not a fan of benchmarking. I am a fan of designing our company together with a great team in the right way and with the right products," he said.


In the release, Lufthansa said it intends to make the best of India's untapped growth opportunity - especially in the post-Covid era - by providing consumers with the most premium travel experiences during their international trips for business or leisure.


Hohmeister also said that during the Covid time, the Indian market was reorganising itself completely and that it was completely different gameplay compared to other markets.  About the regulations in India, Hohmeister said it is "something we have to live with... We have to work on that".


To a query related to Air India, he said it is a very interesting company. Both Lufthansa and Air India are part of the Star Alliance. "I am happy to hear partners developing; it is always a good message... No airline can stand on its own... We need to have partners," he added.


The group will invest in premium products, he said, adding that it plans to hire more than 20,000 people. Worldwide, the group has 1,09,509 employees and generated revenues of 32,770 million euros in the financial year 2022. Lufthansa Group comprises the segments of Network Airlines, Eurowings, and Aviation Services.