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Air India, Lufthansa Group to Codeshare On

DALLAS — Air India (AI) and Lufthansa Group have agreed to expand their longstanding codeshare partnership. 

The new arrangement will see Air India (AI) enter into a new codeshare agreement with Austrian Airlines (OS) and extend the existing codeshare agreements between Air India, Lufthansa (LH), and SWISS (LX).

Air India says passengers will see expanded flight options and connectivity between the Indian Subcontinent and Europe. The four airlines will operate nearly 60 additional codeshare routes between 12 Indian and 26 European cities.

The expanded agreements raise the number of codeshare routes between AI, LH, and LX from 55 to nearly 100. The new agreement between Air India and Austrian Airlines also adds 26 codeshare routes.

Thus, AI will now offer a total of 26 destinations across Europe and three destinations in the Americas beyond its gateways in Europe (Frankfurt (FRA), Vienna (VIE), and Zurich (ZRH). Likewise, Lufthansa Group customers will now be able to connect to AI’s domestic services to or from 15 points within India.

Airline Comments

"Our goal is to enable our customers to travel from any corner of the world to another via Air India and its partner airlines. The expansion of our partnership with Lufthansa Group is a step in that direction, and we are pleased to take this long-standing relationship to the next level,” said Nipun Aggarwal, Chief Commercial Officer, Air India.

“With this renewed partnership, our customers will have access to more destinations and greater flexibility to travel across Europe on Lufthansa Group carriers. We look forward to continuing to work closely with our Star Alliance partners to make the world feel like a smaller place,” Aggarwal added.

“We are thrilled to strengthen our partnership with Air India and elevate the travel experience for our joint customers,” said Dieter Vranckx, Chief Commercial Officer, Lufthansa Group. “By further enhancing our cooperation, we will increase the travel options between Europe and India and offer our passengers improved access to additional destinations. Lufthansa Group remains committed to India, and we are excited about the possibilities and potential the country and Air India as a partner have to offer.”

Air India and the three Lufthansa Group carriers are members of Star Alliance. Frequent flyers will continue to earn and redeem points/miles on all four airlines. 

Elite status holders of AI’s Maharaja Club and Lufthansa Group’s Miles & More programs will receive Star Alliance Gold benefits, including priority services, extra baggage allowance, and airport lounge access.

Tickets for the codeshare flights will be added to the respective booking channels as regulatory approvals are received.

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