LUFTHANSA will begin the first flights linking Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu Province, and Europe in March as it expands in China, the head of the German airline announced yesterday.
The airline will introduce five weekly non-stop flights between Nanjing Lukou International Airport and Frankfurt from March 28, as well as three weekly direct flights between Liaoning's Shenyang and Munich via Seoul from June 8, said Wolfgang Mayrhuber, CEO of Lufthansa.
Airbus 340-300 aircraft will serve the two routes, with 221 seats in first, business and economy class.
The two new services expand the airline's Asia-Pacific gateways to 23.
"We are very proud to enhance our presence in mainland China by adding both Nanjing and Shenyang as new destinations to our global network," Mayrhuber said.
"We do not fly faster than other airlines, but we will increase the service, secure punctuality and cut costs to compete with rivals," he said.
Yu Cheng'an, general manager of the Nanjing airport, said the new route is a landmark for the city as it's the first passenger route flying to Europe.
"The airport is estimated to host eight million passengers this year, growing 29 percent from a year earlier," Yu said.
Mayrhuber also revealed that Swiss International Air Lines, which was taken over by Lufthansa in 2005, plans to launch direct Shanghai-Zurich flights in May 2008.
There are no direct flights at present between the Chinese mainland and Switzerland. The bankrupt Swissair suspended its direct flights from Shanghai and Beijing to Zurich in 2002.