Lufthansa is Germany's flag carrier and the country's largest airline and flies directly from it's hub in Frankfurt to Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai.
Coimbatore: CII Coimbatore organised an Interaction with officials from Lufthansa Airlines on Friday at Coimbatore, aimed at improving air connectivity at Coimbatore International Airport.
Lufthansa is Germany's flag carrier and the country's largest airline and flies directly from it's hub in Frankfurt to Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai.
Addressing at the interaction, George Ettiyil, Senior Director - South Asia and Head of Global Accounts – Asia Pacific, Lufthansa Group, stated that the Aviation industry has been severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic as well as due to the ongoing Ukraine War. He stated that by 2023, the industry is likely to recover fully, and Lufthansa Airlines is in the process of reinstating a new first class and economy class in all their flights.
Speaking on the importance of air connectivity to global destinations, he stated that, International Connectivity will help in propelling industrial growth of a region and pointed out that for a country like India, there will be a large quantum of travellers to destinations including Germany, who can capitalise on this service.
For a request from Industry members to initiate a direct flight service from Coimbatore to Frankfurt at a frequency of twice a week, Ettiyil stated that about 60,000 passengers per month, would be required as a minimum number for initiating such a service. Members opined that, given the number of frequent travellers from this region, that quantum already does exist. Ettiyil confirmed that once such a business opportunity has been identified, the airline would take care of developing facilities including Handling, Catering, Approvals, Crew and other services at a particular location.
On a request for initiating cargo flights from Coimbatore, Ettiyil assured that their cargo division will be keen to understand the business viability and explore possibilities. Several other topics including providing seamless connectivity options, partnership with Indian air carriers, possibility of early morning arrival at Coimbatore etc, were discussed in detail at the session.
He also stated that Lufthansa is looking forward to partner with domestic players in India.
Initially, welcoming the officials, Prashanth S, Chairman, CII Coimbatore expressed the nodal role played by Coimbatore International Airport as a gateway connecting business travellers from this region to destinations elsewhere. He emphasized on the need for a direct flight connectivity for global destinations for furthering industrial growth. He also stated that CII has been advocating to the authorities towards expansion of Coimbatore Airport and upgradation of Airport Infrastructure in order to handle increasing number of air travellers.
Key leaders of the industry including, Dr R Nandini, Founder Trustee, GRG Trust, Jayakumar Ramdass, Managing Director, Mahendra Pumps Pvt Ltd, M Ramesh, Managing Director, Alphacraft Pvt Ltd, J Ganesh Kumar, Managing Director, Indo Shell Cast Pvt Ltd, Arjun Prakash, Wholetime Director, Effica Automation, Sathish, Coimbatore Infra Group, were part of this special interaction.
Lufthansa is Germany's flag carrier and the country's largest airline and flies directly from it's hub in Frankfurt to Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai.
Addressing at the interaction, George Ettiyil, Senior Director - South Asia and Head of Global Accounts – Asia Pacific, Lufthansa Group, stated that the Aviation industry has been severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic as well as due to the ongoing Ukraine War. He stated that by 2023, the industry is likely to recover fully, and Lufthansa Airlines is in the process of reinstating a new first class and economy class in all their flights.
Speaking on the importance of air connectivity to global destinations, he stated that, International Connectivity will help in propelling industrial growth of a region and pointed out that for a country like India, there will be a large quantum of travellers to destinations including Germany, who can capitalise on this service.
For a request from Industry members to initiate a direct flight service from Coimbatore to Frankfurt at a frequency of twice a week, Ettiyil stated that about 60,000 passengers per month, would be required as a minimum number for initiating such a service. Members opined that, given the number of frequent travellers from this region, that quantum already does exist. Ettiyil confirmed that once such a business opportunity has been identified, the airline would take care of developing facilities including Handling, Catering, Approvals, Crew and other services at a particular location.
On a request for initiating cargo flights from Coimbatore, Ettiyil assured that their cargo division will be keen to understand the business viability and explore possibilities. Several other topics including providing seamless connectivity options, partnership with Indian air carriers, possibility of early morning arrival at Coimbatore etc, were discussed in detail at the session.
He also stated that Lufthansa is looking forward to partner with domestic players in India.
Initially, welcoming the officials, Prashanth S, Chairman, CII Coimbatore expressed the nodal role played by Coimbatore International Airport as a gateway connecting business travellers from this region to destinations elsewhere. He emphasized on the need for a direct flight connectivity for global destinations for furthering industrial growth. He also stated that CII has been advocating to the authorities towards expansion of Coimbatore Airport and upgradation of Airport Infrastructure in order to handle increasing number of air travellers.
Key leaders of the industry including, Dr R Nandini, Founder Trustee, GRG Trust, Jayakumar Ramdass, Managing Director, Mahendra Pumps Pvt Ltd, M Ramesh, Managing Director, Alphacraft Pvt Ltd, J Ganesh Kumar, Managing Director, Indo Shell Cast Pvt Ltd, Arjun Prakash, Wholetime Director, Effica Automation, Sathish, Coimbatore Infra Group, were part of this special interaction.