Lufthansa looks to expands GCC presence

Lufthansa recently reported that the Group expects more than 1,000,000 passengers from the whole region to travel to Germany, Europe and beyond. The latest figures reflect an increase of more than 10% compared to 2012. “The potential of European travellers coming to Dubai and the UAE is larger than ever not only from the business sector but also leisure travellers,” said Carsten Schaeffer, vice president sales and services Southeast Europe, Middle East and Africa. “Over 300,000 tourists from Germany will come in 2013 to Dubai – with our new initiative we will have a substantial share in this business”. Highlight new developments at the Dubai Airshow is also the start of the new Boeing 777-9X program where Lufthansa is the first launch customer. From 2020 34 Boeing 777-9X will join the fleet and purchase rights for another 30 are already agreed. The new airplane will be a perfect fit for markets with a high demand such as China, the USA or Dubai. Looking at the Middle East Lufthansa’s network will grow further. Especially Saudi Arabia will see more flights with a new daily flight on the Dammam-Frankfurt route. These flights are joined by the seven weekly flights each from Riyadh and Jeddah to Frankfurt and three weekly flights from Riyadh to Munich. Source: Travel Daily