Tata-owned Air India and Lufthansa Group signed a joint enterprise settlement, beneath which each events will collaborate on a number of strategic features, together with coordinated route planning and flight schedules in chosen markets, the Indian airline mentioned on Tuesday, 17 February.
The airways entered right into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Tuesday to ascertain a framework for a joint enterprise settlement that may cowl Air IndiaAir India Specific, and Lufthansa Group carriers and subsidiaries. These embrace Austrian Airways, Brussels Airways, ITA Airways, Lufthansa, Swiss Worldwide Air Strains (SWISS), and different affiliated airways.
The proposed partnership with Germany’s Lufthansa Group additionally seeks to discover alternatives rising from the India-European Union Free Commerce Settlement, which was finalised in January.
Regulatory approvals pending
Air India mentioned that the detailed scope, together with specific routes and markets, can be decided as soon as a complete joint enterprise settlement is established, pending regulatory approvals.
“Topic to requisite regulatory and anti-trust approvals, the carriers intend to collaborate throughout a number of strategic areas, together with coordinated route planning and flight schedules in particular markets for larger buyer comfort and enhanced connectivity, in addition to joint gross sales, advertising and marketing and distribution initiatives,” Air India mentioned.
“Additional cooperation would embody the joint improvement and coordination for improved buyer experiences in areas reminiscent of frequent flyer programmes, IT infrastructure – buyer journey, high quality assurance, and different mutually useful initiatives – to reinforce the benefit of journey for our clients,” the airline added.
The MoU will initially purpose to extend passenger site visitors flows between India and Lufthansa Group’s major residence market area, which incorporates Germany, Austria, Belgium, Italy, and Switzerland. They might additionally look to incorporate the remainder of Europe and the Indian subcontinent.
At current, Air India and Lufthansa Group airways have codeshare agreements for 145 routes throughout 15 Indian cities, 29 European cities, and 20 nations. In February 2025, each events additionally introduced the enlargement of the codeshare agreements between Air India, Lufthansa, SWISS, and Austrian Airways.
Air India has 24 codeshare partnerships and almost 100 interline agreements with varied carriers. A codeshare partnership permits passengers to journey on a single ticket on completely different flights.
Lufthansa Group ranks because the fourth-largest airline group worldwide by income and fleet dimension. It manages 5 nationwide airways in main European markets, together with different personal, travel-focused airways, Lufthansa Cargo, Lufthansa Technik, and greater than 300 subsidiaries and affiliated firms beneath the Lufthansa Group model, in line with the discharge.