Number 1 European Airline in Asia Pacific: Lufthansa
21 Oct 2008
German airline Lufthansa has been reported as the number one European airline in Asia-Pacific
Lufthansa is reported to offer the most flights between Europe and Asia-Pacific, with network information to 194 destinations in 79 countries as of European winter 2008. The airline employs over 100,000 staff worldwide, making Lufthansa a leading long-haul European carrier with its group fleet of over 500 aircraft.
Lufthansa's Australian headquarters are at Sydney, with sales teams located in Melbourne and Brisbane. Melbourne is also home to one of Lufthansa's nine customer service call centres globally. Together with its Star Alliance partners, the airline offers more than 160 flights per week from all major Australian cities via 12 gateways in Singapore, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Seoul, Ho Chi Min City, Shanghai, Beijing, Tokyo, Johannesburg, Vancouver, Los Angeles and San Francisco, connecting with Lufthansa flights to over 116 European destinations via Frankfurt and Munich.
Lufthansa integrated the former Swiss International Air Lines following regulatory approval in 2005. Swiss presently serves 76 destinations in 42 countries.
Globally, Lufthansa was the first airline to build its own terminal for First Class guests in Frankfurt. The airline offers like personal assistant and Mercedes S-class and Porsche Cayenne limousine services directly to the aircraft. Passengers can board aircraft conveniently and calmly at Frankfurt, as it has implemented boarding on two levels already, almost a year in advance of the scheduled arrival of the Airbus A380 there.
The boarding terminal is equipped with generously proportioned passenger bridges, each of which has four escalators, resulting in no queues. The open and spaciously laid out gates for Economy passengers on level 2 have comfortable and contemporary interior design.
For First and Business Class passengers and status customers, waiting areas on level 3, better known as the Priority Gates, are designed in the style of a Business Lounge, with all amenities. Right next door is a Senator Lounge, equipped with W-LAN technology, private areas for working, a bistro and bathrooms with showers.
Munich is part of the Top 5 airport globally, and was voted as the best airport in Europe for the fourth consecutive year. It was also ranked second world-wide in the "Best Transit Airport" category, and moved up to third place in the "Best Airport Dining" category. A number of the reasons for this ranking of the airport are housed in Terminal 2, which is used by Lufthansa, Star Alliance and Lufthansa's partner airlines.
Lufthansa introduced five weekly non-stop flights between Singapore and Munich, starting June 2008. These additional flights expand Lufthansa's network in the Asia-Pacific region, providing further linkages in the region to Lufthansa's hub in Munich. Under the new schedule, Lufthansa's flight LH791 departs Singapore (except Tuesday and Sunday) in the morning, arriving in Munich in the afternoon on the same day. The return flight LH790 departs Munich (except Monday and Saturday) in the early afternoon, arriving in Singapore in the early morning on the next day.
Lufthansa is a founding member of Star Alliance, which has 21 member airlines servicing around 800 destinations in over 150 countries. The airline has developed one of the most comprehensive alliance networks in the industry, offering customers countless advantages, such as the world's biggest route network.
