Hope for the best and prepare for the worst. German airline Lufthansa is adopting this strategy for its India plans. While it will seek permission to fly in the world’s largest commercial airliner, Airbus A-380, into Delhi, the airline has sharply reduced business seats in the Boeing 747s flying here. In wake of corporate travellers giving up business class for cost-cutting reasons, the number of economy seats has been increased in the biggest plane in its fleet at present, the Boeing 747. Lufthansa has ordered 15 of the world’s biggest commercial airliner that would start joining its fleet from early next year.
“We need two things, government clearance under bilateral agreement to fly this plane and an airport that’s ready for it. Delhi is an interesting destinations for this aircraft to be deployed in. Once we have the clearance and Delhi airport terminal can receive this plane, our planning team will decide when to get the same here,” said Axel Hilgers, Lufthansa’s director (south Asia). The superjumbo is likely to be used for commercial purposes next summer. But for present, Hilgers is tweaking the fleet deployment and configuration as it does not want to withdraw flights or frequency.
