Lufthansa up 19% in H1 2007, Cyprus wines to celebrate 25 years

Lufthansa is celebrating its 25th anniversary of operations in Cyprus, with strong demand for capacity urging the airline to add a fourth weekly flight from Larnaca to Munich in August.

“The Frankfurt routes as well as the Munich service both exceeded our expectations, they are very well accepted by the market”, said Joachim Steinbach, Vice President Sales and Services Southeast Europe, Africa, Middle East and Pakistan. In the first half of the year passenger figures increased by 19% with the seat load factors for both routes at its height.

Lufthansa started operating two weekly flights to Larnaca 25 years ago, with the inaugural service a Boeing 727 that arrived on March 31, 1982 and continued to Amman. Today the airline offers five weekly flights from Larnaca to Frankfurt and convenient connections to the U.S. and Europe. In 2006 it carried 90.000 passengers between Cyprus and Germany.

“During this long presence, Lufthansa has strengthened its position in the Cypriot market and has developed into one of the leading European carriers and we have become a part of the Cypriot business community”, added Kathrin Pfeiler, Lufthansa General Manager Cyprus.

With its partner Aegean Airlines, Lufthansa also offers codeshare flights between Larnaca and Athens.

Furthermore, from October 1, the airline will include the Cypriot Lambouri Winery as a new local partner of its Miles & More frequent flier programme. The 32,000 members of the scheme will be able to redeem their miles to buy the Cypriot wines which are limited to a production of 75,000 bottles a year.

In addition, Lufthansa Cyprus has introduced the PartnerPlusBenefit programme, a loyalty programme for small and medium sized companies which has been well received by the market.