Lufthansa cancels all October flights from India

Lufthansa on Tuesday said it was cancelling all its flights from India to Germany for October after India “unexpectedly” rejected its planned flight schedule.

The German national carrier in a detailed statement also said that Indian authorities had not agreed to talks on extending the bilateral agreement on temporary flights between both countries beyond September, and an application on the same was rejected.

“This application process is necessary since India has so far not accepted the invitation by the German government to discuss details regarding a temporary travel agreement between both countries.

Once Indian authorities agree on talks with the German government to establish a temporary travel agreement, Lufthansa is set to continue serving the Indian people in these unprecedented times,” the airline said in a detailed statement.

India and Germany entered into an agreement in July to allow a limited number of flights between the two countries.

India has a similar agreement with 13 other countries, including the U.S., U.K., France, Japan, Qatar and the UAE.

“There are restrictions in place for Indian nationals desiring to travel to Germany which was putting Indian carriers at a significant disadvantage resulting in inequitable distribution of traffic in favour of Lufthansa," the DGCA said in a statement.

Air India is the only Indian carrier that flies to Germany.

It added that while Air India was operating 3-4 flights a week, Lufthansa had 20 flights a week.

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