Lufthansa in talks with Taj, credit card firm

Identifying India as a potential market, German airline major Lufthansa is in talks with the Taj Group for integrating the airline's frequent-flyer programme, Miles and More. The air carrier, which currently operates 47 flights a week, is also planning to tie up with a credit card service provider to integrate the Miles and More programme.

An announcement in this regard is likely to take place in India next month (August).

Andreas Bierwirth, vice-president, marketing, Lufthansa, said the airline was in talks with Tata-controlled Taj Group to partner with its frequent-flyer programme.

The deal with a credit card service provider will mean that a Lufthansa passenger, who is a frequent flyer, can secure miles for the money he spends through that particular card.

In the case of Taj Hotels, passengers will earn more miles if they stay more in the group's hotels.

"The modalities of partnership are yet to be finalised. We are expecting to conclude the agreements by the next month," Bierwirth said.

Lufthansa, which is looking at enhancing flights from Indian destinations to Europe, is also planning to increase the advertisement spend in India.

"We are seriously considering about increasing advertisement campaigns in India. Last year, we had spent about ¤3.5 million in India," Bierwirth said.

Wener Heesen, director, South Asia, Lufthansa, said the airline planned to raise its services and cover new destinations in India.

"We would be looking at enhancing the current destinations from India. We would like to add more flights to Munich from India," Heesen said.

At present, Lufthansa operates daily flights to Hyderabad, New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore from Frankfurt, apart from daily flights to New Delhi from Munich and three weekly services to Kolkata from Frankfurt.