Record numbers take flight to Lufthansa

GERMAN airline Lufthansa says its North West operation is continuing to grow as business and leisure passengers shun London’s Heathrow.

Announcing higher passenger numbers for 2008, despite the start of the global downturn, Marianne Sammann, Lufthansa’s general manager for UK and Ireland, said the airline was filling the void left by the departures of other airlines.

“We are really pleased with Manchester – it’s our second largest UK base and we are growing, which is good news.”

Mrs Sammann said 569,536 people had chosen Lufthansa during 2008, up 0.8% on 2007. The airline operates 74 flights a week from Manchester and is expecting to benefit from BMI’s termination of its Leeds Bradford – Heathrow service, which was announced last week.

 She said: “Passengers are increasingly accepting the idea of not having to use Heathrow as the hub for international connections. By using Frankfurt they can access more efficient and faster connections around the world.

“Passengers can also check their luggage in at Manchester and collect it at their final destination, which is another big plus.

“I think BMI’s decision and the regular train service between Leeds and Manchester Airport will be good news for Manchester.”

More than 60% of passengers from Manchester travel onwards via Lufthansa’s international network, Mrs Sammann said. The most popular international destinations are Hong Kong, Beijing and Mumbai.

Looking ahead to this year Mrs Sammann is confident Lufthansa can continue to grow  its market share if not passenger numbers.

She said: “Clearly the global recession is going to have an impact – we’re seeing that some business people are travelling less and when they are travelling they may be switching from business class to economy.”

She said there were no plans to reduce the number of flights out of Manchester, and if passenger numbers fall, smaller aircraft will be used on the services.