Lufthansa keen to deploy A380s on Indian routes

Having taken delivery of its first Airbus 380 superjumbo aircraft this week German air carrier Lufthansa may be keen to tap Indian routes with its new acquisition but may have to wait between six to nine months for infrastructure to be in place before it can do so.

The only Indian airport that will be ready to accommodate the superjumbo will be the nation's capital New Delhi and airport facilities here are still being readied. It is estimated by aviation experts that New Delhi airport's Terminal 3, which is still under construction, may require another six to nine months, and even more, before it would be ready to receive the A380.

In tandem with the German carrier's taking delivery of the first A380 in Hamburg on Wednesday, Lufthansa's south Asia director Axel Hilgers stated the airline's intention to deploy the gigantic 526-seater, double-decker A380 on the India sector.

'We shall be ready whenever India is ready to receive the Airbus A-380 aircraft,' Hilgers said.

Hilgers pointed out that India was Lufthansa's second largest international market in the world and that the carrier was keen to offer the best services and schedules it could on the sector.

The Cologne-based carrier is scheduled to take delivery of four more A380s this year.