Lufthansa to fly A-380 on Mumbai-Frankfurt route

NEW DELHI: Slot-constrained Mumbai airport is fast becoming a magnet for the world’s biggest commercial aircraft, Airbus A-380. German mega carrier Lufthansa is planning to deploy this aircraft on the Mumbai-Frankfurt route from next summer. Currently, three international airlines — Singapore Airlines (SIA), Emirates, and Etihad — fly this double-decker aircraft to Mumbai.
Delhi, the only other airport that gets A-380s in India, at present sees the big bird from only two airlines — SIA and Lufthansa.
“From the winter schedule that starts October-end, we will introduce the Boeing 747-8 on our Mumbai–Frankfurt route. And then our endeavour will be to deploy an A-380 on this route from next summer,” Wolfgang Will, Lufthansa (South Asia) director, told TOI.
Lufthansa has been trying to bring the A-380 to Mumbai for some years now but could not get the slot as the city’s airport, till recently, had only one parking bay big enough for the A-380, along with a sole twinlevel aerobridge. “Delhi will be the first destination within the Lufthansa network that will be served with the new Airbus A350 at the beginning of 2017,” Will said.