Werner Heesen, 58, is general manager, passenger sales, India, and director, South Asia, of Lufthansa German Airlines, the German flag carrier. He was appointed to the post in September 2003, and he supervises Lufthansa’s sales and marketing activities in South Asia, covering India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Mr Heesen joined Lufthansa in 1971, starting his career as tours promotion manager based in Dusseldorf, Germany. Mr. Heesen had an earlier stint in India as deputy area manager for northern India based in New Delhi and subsequently regional marketing manager in 1986. Prior to his current posting in India, he worked in Cairo and became general manager, passenger sales, Egypt, and director, Northeast Africa and Yemen.
Excerpts from an interview with SHAUKAT H. MOHAMMED:
Where does India fit into Lufthansa’s big picture? Lufthansa has identified two markets as strategic. They are India and China. Both these are emerging markets. Therefore, India is very important. We are currently operating 42 flights per week to and from five destinations in India — New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad. We have been consistently increasing the number of flights, nearly doubling them from 23 in 2003 to 42 now. Lufthansa is the only European airline operating the largest number of flights to India. There were double-digit increases in passenger kilometres, passengers and capacity.
Will Lufthansa be flying to other destinations in India as well? We are exploring options in eastern and western India, in Gujarat and Maharashtra.
Which is the bigger market, India or China? India is the bigger market because there is a lot more business travel, particularly in the technology industry. Therefore, the passenger volume is higher with technology industry workers, especially from from Bangalore and Hyderabad to the United States via Frankfurt. Our seat load factor on routes to and from India is one of the highest in Lufthansa’s Asia-Pacific network.More importantly, we believe that the Indian market is a sustainable market because of the strong growth in the economy and stability.
How’s the partnership with Air India going? Lufthansa has a codesharing arrangement with Air India. Under this, Lufthansa operates codeshare flights carrying Air India flight numbers. The partnership operates 402 weekly joint flights to and from the five destinations in India and 12 destinations in Germany, Europe and the US.
What are the other areas Lufthansa is planning to invest in, in India? Lufthansa has a very strong presence in maintenance, repair and overhaul, through Lufthansa Technik. We are planning to set up an MRO unit in India, because India is yet to get the technical expertise. An MRO is being seriously considered. It’s around the corner. Lufthansa is very sure about the MRO business, and it has MRO units in Hamburg and Berlin in Germany and in Ireland. The cargo segment, too, is growing. Lufthansa Cargo has been operating in India since 1969, and flies to five destinations in India, with 47 frequencies per week. Lufthansa has launched its own catering unit in Bangalore and Hyderabad, which delivers Indian cuisine to all Lufthansa flights from India. Lufthansa has a joint venture with the Bird Group, RDM India, which develops and offers support to the travel industry.
What’s Lufthansa doing to address the shortage of trained commercial pilots in India? Lufthansa is seriously considering setting up a pilot training facility in India. The airline has such a facility in California. The pilot training facility, too, is around the corner. We are on a fact-finding mission in India with regard to the pilot training and MRO facilities.
What do you think the Indian government should do to encourage the civil aviation sector? A lot has been done already. The government has abolished royalty payments for every flight operated. It has allowed an increase in frequency of flights. There are some infrastructure bottlenecks, like congestion at the New Delhi and Mumbai airports. But these are being addressed as well. Lufthansa has a stake in Fraport, which is part of the consortium that has been awarded the contract to renovate the New Delhi airport (On March 24, Deutsche Lufthansa AG said it has increased its stake in Fraport AG, which operates the Frankfurt airport, to 9.01 per cent from 5.01 per cent)