Improvement in aviation infra would offer better opportunities: Lufthansa

The Dollar Business Bureau

Improvement in infrastructure in the aviation sector in India would offer better opportunities for business to cargo airlines, an official of Lufthansa Cargo on Tuesday told the Indian media.

Lufthansa Cargo CEO and Chairman of Executive Board Peter Gerber termed the Indian aviation market as ‘interesting’ and said that growth was returning in the market.

“Infrastructure (in aviation) has always been a key challenge for us. I believe if infrastructure is improved, there will be better opportunities for the business,” Gerber said.

The Lufthansa Cargo, the arm of Germany’s largest airline Lufthansa, has enhanced its freighter services flights to Mumbai from three to four from the last month.

He said that India has always been a vital market for Lufthansa, while adding, “We believe Indian market is very interesting and it’s a huge market with thick opportunities. So we always look for it.”

“After a weak last year, the aviation market is now recovering. At present, we see a growth of around 9% in revenues and this may be improved further in this fiscal,” Gerber said.

In June, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) upgraded its estimates for air freight growth, stating that the demand is likely to increase by 7.5% in 2017, compared to earlier forecast of 3.5% growth, against the 3.6% growth last year.

On expanding flights to other cities of India, Gerber said that there are no immediate plans yet.

Apart from Mumbai, Lufthansa Cargo currently has freighter services to Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai, with two freighter services flights every week to each city.

Lufthansa also provides cargo services through its 42 passenger flights per week of passenger airline to various cities of India from Munich, Frankfurt and Vienna.

Gerber also ruled out any immediate plans to set up a subsidiary in India.