Berlin route will boost Lufthansa says boss

THE new UK general manager for Lufthansa, the German airline, is cautiously confident on prospects for this year with major investment in the fleet and new routes being launched.

Christian Schindler, who is three months in to his new role, having moved from the carrier’s operation in South Korea, says Manchester and the North West will benefit from the launch of a daily flight to the new Berlin Will Brandt Airport in June, as well as enjoying better business class facilities on long haul and new aircraft.

He said: “Manchester is important to us – last year we saw record passenger number with growth of 8.5% to 697,915, and while it’s difficult to predict the general economic situation, the UK seems to be ahead of many other European countries.”

The addition, from June 3 of the Berlin route will be Lufthansa’s sixth from Manchester. It currently flies to Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich and Stuttgart.

When the daily Berlin flight begins Lufthansa will operate 93 flights a week out of Manchester, making it one of the largest scheduled carriers.

Mr Schindler said: “Berlin is Germany’s largest city and the capital and we expect there to strong demand from both leisure passengers visiting the many museums and monuments there.

“Berlin is a major centre for conferences and exhibitions and I’m expecting this to be a popular business destination too. If there is demand we’ll look at increasing capacity I am sure.”

He feels that two new Chinese routes, Shenyang and Qingdao, being launched from Frankfurt, will be popular among North West business travellers trading in the Far East.

“A lot of our passengers from Manchester travel onwards with us through our network – Beijing is already among the top end-destinations and I expect the new routes from Frankfurt will do well too.”

He said the airline was investing €9bn over the next few years in new aircraft, including more A380 Airbus Superjumbo and is also the launch partner for Boeing’s improved and extended 747-8  which is entering service later this year.

“Lufthansa is investing in cleaner, quieter and more efficient aircraft and also launching an improved business-class product this year – where a V-shaped space will become a standard – so there is a lot to look forward to.”