Air India and Lufthansa Group have agreed to build on their longstanding codeshare partnership. Air India will enter into a new codeshare agreement with Austrian Airlines and expand the existing codeshare agreements between Air India, Lufthansa, and Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS). 

The expanded partnership significantly boosts flight options and connectivity for travellers between the Indian Subcontinent and Europe with the addition of close to 60 codeshare routes operated by the four airlines across 12 Indian and 26 European cities. 

The expanded agreements increase the total number of codeshare routes between Air India, Lufthansa, and SWISS increased their routes from 55 to nearly 100. The new agreement between Air India and Austrian Airlines introduces 26 additional codeshare routes, offering excellent choices and convenience while ensuring seamless experiences for travelers from both regions.Air India will now offer its customers a total of 26 destinations across Europe and three destinations in the Americas beyond its gateways in Europe (Frankfurt, Vienna, and Zurich), with the ‘AI’ designator code placed on the following services operated by airlines in the Lufthansa Group, including Austrian Airlines for the first time:

Lufthansa

Between Frankfurt and Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Bremen, Brussels, Copenhagen, Dresden, Düsseldorf, Dublin, Geneva, Hamburg, Hannover, Luxembourg, Lyon, Manchester, Marseille, Munich, Nice, Nuremberg, Oslo, Prague, Riga, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Stockholm, Stuttgart, Toulouse, Valencia, – Washington D.C.

SWISS

Between Zurich and Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Bremen, Brussels, Copenhagen, Dresden, Düsseldorf, Dublin, Geneva, Hamburg, Hannover, Luxembourg, Manchester, Marseille, Munich, Nice, Oslo, Prague, Stockholm, Stuttgart, Valencia. 

Austrian Airlines

Between Vienna and Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Bremen, Brussels, Copenhagen, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Hannover, Lyon, Manchester, Marseille, Munich, Nice, Oslo, Prague, Stockholm, Stuttgart, and Valencia.

Reciprocally, Lufthansa Group customers will now be able to connect to Air India’s domestic services to or from 15 points within India, namely Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bengaluru, Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Delhi, Goa Mopa, Goa Dabolim, Hyderabad, Indore, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Pune, and Thiruvananthapuram. Lufthansa Group carriers will also add their respective designator codes to Air India’s international services to 3 destinations from Delhi and Mumbai: Kathmandu, Melbourne, and Sydney. 

As part of the expanded codeshare partnership, Air India and Lufthansa Group carriers will cover flights currently operated between India and Germany or Switzerland. For example, customers who wish to fly between Delhi and Frankfurt will now have three daily flight options each way with ‘LH’ flight numbers, including two flights operated by Air India and one by Lufthansa. 

Both airlines plan to progressively include other destinations in their network in the codeshare arrangements. 

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. At the same time, elite status holders of Air India’s Maharaja Club and Lufthansa Group’s Miles & More programmes will benefit from Star Alliance Gold benefits, including priority services, extra baggage allowance, and airport lounge access worldwide. 

“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 longstanding 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. It also lets us serve Lufthansa Group customers with warmth and quintessential Indian hospitality aboard Air India flights. 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. 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”, according to Dieter Vranckx, Chief Commercial Officer, Lufthansa Group.

Subject to regulatory approvals, the codeshare flights will be progressively made available for sale through the airlines’ respective booking channels.

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