The higher passenger volume to and from Romania last year prompted airline Airline to increase its capacity by adding more flights for Romania. Lufthansa carried  680,000 passengers on routes between Romania and Germany in 2011, up 20 percent over the previous year, according to the company. In 2010, the airline flew 615,000 passengers to and from Romania, 10 percent more than in 2009.

Lufthansa has announced plans to introduce four new weekly Bucharest - Berlin flights from June 3, 2012. Moreover, starting March 23 this year, the airline will add a new daily Sibiu - Munich flight. From the summer of 2012, Lufthansa Group will offer a total of 178 weekly flights out of five Romanian cities, 32 more than the previous year.

“Lufthansa Group will continue to invest in the Romanian market in 2012, because we believe in Romania’s potential," said Patrick Artiel, recently named Lufthansa’s Passenger Sales General Manager for Romania and the Republic of Moldova (in picture).

The number of passengers transported by Lufthansa Group - including Austrian Airlines and Swiss, also went up by 15 percent in 2011, to a total of 1.1 million. The company also expects a higher volume for 2012.

Swiss will also introduce new twice daily Bucharest - Zurich flights from March 23 this year. “The demand for the Bucharest-Zurich route is constantly increasing. We are answering this trend with an extension of our services,” said Bernhard Wodl, Swiss Senior Manager for Eastern Europe.

Lufthansa is part of Lufthansa Group, which also operates Austrian Airlines, British Midland, Swiss, and Germanwings. In 2011, Lufthansa Group carried a total of over 106 million passenger, up 7.5 percent over the previous year. At the end of October  last year, the group had over 120,000 employees.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com

(photo source: Lufthansa,  Photo by Gregor Schlaeger)