Lufthansa Group and Air India move toward joint business agreement

Lufthansa Group and Air India have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish a comprehensive Joint Business Agreement (JBA), significantly deepening their strategic cooperation between Europe and India.

The agreement, signed by Lufthansa Group CEO Carsten Spohr and Air India CEO Campbell Wilson, aims to expand joint flight offerings, strengthen commercial coordination and enhance the customer experience across both carriers’ networks. It comes in the wake of the newly concluded EU–India free trade agreement, which creates the world’s largest free trade area and is expected to stimulate further growth in air travel demand.

Targeting the Fastest-Growing Major Aviation Market

India — now the world’s most populous country — represents the fastest-growing large aviation market globally. For Lufthansa Group, India is already its second most important long-haul premium market after the United States.

The expanded partnership is designed to capitalise on rising trade, business and leisure flows between India and Europe. Both sides highlighted opportunities to deepen economic and cultural ties while improving connectivity between the two regions.

Expanded Network and Commercial Integration

Currently, Lufthansa Group carriers and Air India codeshare on 146 routes across 22 countries, serving 15 Indian and 27 European destinations.

From Germany, Lufthansa operates services from Frankfurt to Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad, and from Munich to Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. SWISS International Air Lines connects Zurich with Delhi and Mumbai, while ITA Airways serves Delhi from Rome. Air India complements the network with services from Delhi to Frankfurt, Zurich, Vienna and Milan, and from Mumbai to Frankfurt.

Under the planned JBA, the partners intend to:

• Expand and jointly market transcontinental services
• Improve schedule coordination and reduce connection times
• Better integrate frequent flyer programmes
• Optimise airport processes for a more seamless passenger journey

Future phases may extend cooperation beyond Lufthansa Group’s core home markets — Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium and Italy — to additional EU countries and the wider Indian subcontinent, subject to regulatory approvals.

Long-Standing Alliance Relationship

The two airlines have a decades-long relationship. Lufthansa first began serving Delhi in 1959, while a codeshare agreement with Air India has been in place since 2004. Air India joined Star Alliance in 2014, further formalising ties.

The planned Joint Business Agreement signals what Lufthansa leadership described as a “new chapter” in EU–India aviation, positioning both carriers to capture accelerating long-haul demand between two of the world’s largest economic regions.