Starting May 5, 2001, German airlines Lufthansa will introduce daily flight service between Shanghai and Frankfurt.

With the launch of the new service, Lufthansa will not only be the first and only European airlines to provide daily non-stop service between Shanghai and Frankfurt, but also the first to operate daily flights to all existing gateways in China, involving Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong, said visiting Jurgen Weber, chairman and chief executive officer of Lufthansa at a recent news conference.

The additional flights reinforce Lufthansa's premier position, offering the most frequent flights between China and Europe with 24 non-stop weekly flights. This increase will enhance China as Lufthansa's top destination within its Asia-Pacific network, said Weber.

Related figures indicate that Lufthansa's business volume in the Chinese market in 2000 increased by 41.2 percent compared to that in 1999.

The new daily flight leave Shanghai on Saturdays at 11:10 a.m. (Beijing Time), arriving in Frankfurt at 4:25 p.m. (Local Time) on the same day. The return flight leaves Frankfurt at 5:10 p.m. (Local Time) and reaches Shanghai at 9:25 a.m.(Beijing Time) the next day.

Weber revealed that this summer or fall, Lufthansa plans to extend its code-sharing agreement with Air China to some other Chinese cities in addition to Beijing and Shanghai, and Air China will also reach more German cities except Frankfurt.

(People’s Daily 02/28/2001)