Air India and Lufthansa Group have announced an expansion of their codeshare partnership, enhancing connectivity between the Indian Subcontinent and Europe. This development introduces nearly 60 additional codeshare routes across 12 Indian and 26 European cities.
The collaboration now includes a new agreement with Austrian Airlines, alongside expanded agreements with Lufthansa and Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS). The total number of codeshare routes between Air India, Lufthansa, and SWISS will increase from 55 to nearly 100. Additionally, the agreement with Austrian Airlines adds 26 new routes.
Lufthansa Group customers can connect to Air India’s domestic services in 15 Indian cities: Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bengaluru, Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Delhi, Goa Mopa, Goa Dabolim, Hyderabad, Indore, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Pune, and Thiruvananthapuram. Furthermore, Lufthansa carriers will add designator codes to Air India’s international flights from Delhi and Mumbai to Kathmandu, Melbourne, and Sydney.
Flights operated by Air India and Lufthansa Group carriers between India and Germany or Switzerland are included in this expanded partnership. For instance, passengers traveling between Delhi and Frankfurt will have three daily flight options each way under ‘LH’ flight numbers.
Air India customers gain access to 26 European destinations and three American destinations beyond its gateways in Europe—Frankfurt, Vienna, and Zurich—with the ‘AI’ designator code on services operated by airlines within the Lufthansa Group. This includes Austrian Airlines for the first time.
Dieter Vranckx of Lufthansa Group stated: “We are thrilled to strengthen our partnership with Air India… By further enhancing our cooperation… offer our passengers improved access to additional destinations.” Nipun Aggarwal of Air India added: “Our goal is to enable our customers to travel from any corner of the world… With this renewed partnership… more destinations.”
Both airlines plan future expansions of their network under these arrangements. They are members of Star Alliance; frequent flyers can earn points/miles on all four airlines while enjoying elite benefits like priority services.
Subject to regulatory approvals, these codeshare flights will be available through respective booking channels.
