New Delhi: Lufthansa German Airlines today announced that it will offer three weekly non-stop New Delhi-Munich services for the first time starting March 29, 2004.

Mr Werner Heesen, General Manager Passenger Sales India & Director South Asia, Lufthansa German Airlines, said, "We are excited to operate these new scheduled flight services between New Delhi and Munich in view of the continuous growth of India's travel market. India has enormous growth potential, and is an important strategic market in Lufthansa's global network."

The thrice-weekly New Delhi-Munich flights will be operated with Boeing 767-300 aircraft and subsequently with Airbus 340-300 aircraft from June 07, 2004 onwards. For the first time in India, Lufthansa will also introduce from June 09, 2004 onwards, its new Business Class product on the Airbus 340-300, developed with an investment of around 300 million euros. It will feature a new multi-functional seat, which guarantees ideal conditions for sleep, work and relaxation. FlyNet - the broadband Internet connectivity will also be made available onboard in all the three classes.

Under a new schedule coming into effect on March 28, 2004, LH 762 will depart from Munich at 19:05 hrs on Monday, Wednesday and Friday arriving in New Delhi at 05:45 hrs the following day. LH 763 will depart from New Delhi at 09:30 hrs on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, arriving in Munich at 14:20 hrs.

Munich, the Bavarian capital and the third gateway to Germany, Europe and beyond. As of the summer 2004 schedule, Lufthansa will offer some 1,900 largest city in Germany, is Lufthansa's strategic airport hub in Germany and Europe alongside Frankfurt. With the 2003 opening of the new Terminal 2, Munich Airport continues to expand its role as an attractive flights per week from Munich, including service to 48 European and 15 German cities.

Uwe Mueller, Vice President of Asia-Pacific said, "It is a part of Lufthansa's expansion plan to link more Asian destinations to Munich. The opening of this new route between New Delhi and Munich further reinforces our airline's position as the number 1 European airline operating in India."

Munich is Germany's second most popular destination after Berlin. The city is renowned for its cultural heritage, its vibrant arts scene and the widely celebrated Oktoberfest. Munich is also home to world-class companies such as Siemens and BMW.

As the capital of India and the political and economic centre of the country, New Delhi is an important destination for business travellers and tourists. With the new flights between New Delhi and Munich, Lufthansa will be offering its passengers in northern India a choice of 10 weekly convenient connections.

Under the Indian Government''s extended Open Sky Policy, Lufthansa has added four seasonal flights to its existing three weekly scheduled Bangalore-Frankfurt services offering daily services on this route from January 6 until March 27. After this period, Lufthansa will change its seasonal Bangalore-Frankfurt services from four to two offering five weekly services on this route from March 28, 2004 until further notice.

In its summer schedule 2004, Lufthansa will provide a total of 29 weekly services to and from India: daily New Delhi-Frankfurt, three weekly New Delhi-Munich, daily Mumbai-Frankfurt, daily Chennai-Frankfurt and five weekly Bangalore-Frankfurt flights (three scheduled and two seasonal flights).