Overview
- The MoU, signed on February 17 by Carsten Spohr and Campbell Wilson, sets a framework for a future Joint Business Agreement covering Air India, Air India Express and Lufthansa Group airlines including Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian, Brussels Airlines and ITA Airways.
- The partners frame the move as a response to the newly concluded India–EU free trade agreement, aiming to strengthen aviation links that support expanding trade and travel.
- Planned cooperation includes coordinated route planning and schedules, joint sales and marketing, frequent‑flyer alignment, IT integration and customer‑journey improvements for seamless single‑ticket travel.
- The initial focus targets traffic between India and the Lufthansa Group’s home markets of Germany, Austria, Belgium, Italy and Switzerland, with potential expansion to the rest of Europe and the Indian subcontinent.
- Specific routes and market scope will be defined in a comprehensive JBA and require regulatory and antitrust approvals; the groups currently codeshare on roughly 145–146 routes.