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Lufthansa is continuing to demonstrate its strong commitment to China with a view to solidifying its position as the leading European carrier in the Chinese market. Lufthansa Chairman and CEO Wolfgang Mayrhuber thus underlined his company’s aspirations in a speech to representatives of politics and industry in Beijing and Shanghai to mark “Eighty Years of Lufthansa in China”. “We have strong roots in China that go back 80 years. But we are not only looking back on our unique tradition. We are also fit for the future,” Mayrhuber told a meeting with members of the Sino-German and European chambers of commerce in Beijing.
Values are what counts: The pioneering spirit of managers and staff is one of the keys to a company’s success, Wolfgang Mayrhuber told graduates of the elite China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) in Shanghai.
“The airline market is achieving double-digit growth,” reported Arved von zur Mühlen, who is responsible for Lufthansa’s activities in China. “Our market share on routes from Beijing and Shanghai to Europe has reached double figures.” Lufthansa’s planned expansion of its services aims to outpace market growth. “We respond fast to every market movements and then we are there first with the right offer,” he explained.
One major focus of Lufthansa’s activities is corporate travel. Besides gaining the custom of German and multinational companies with branches in China, Lufthansa wants above all to attract medium-sized Chinese companies and joint ventures.
Lufthansa is developing growth scenarios that extend beyond its destinations Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou or Hong Kong. Via codeshare services with Air China on Chinese domestic routes, Lufthansa aims to open up the markets for other major cities in the provinces.
What began on 30 August 1926 with the landing of the first Luft Hansa aircraft in Peking was to form the first chapter of Lufthansa’s success story today. Fifty-two Lufthansa flights a week now connect both countries. The Lufthansa Group employs more than 8,000 people in China, and has joint joint ventures such as Ameco (since 1989), Lufthansa Technik Shenzhen (since 2000), Shanghai Pudong International Airport Cargo Terminal (since 1999), the International Cargo Centre Shenzhen (since 2004)or Jade Cargo International (since 2006).
Hand-in-hand: On 22 September top representatives of Lufthansa, Air China, Ameco and the Chinese government laid the foundation stone for Ameco’s new A380 maintenance hangar in Beijing.
Photo: Rolf Bewersdorf
The setting for the latest chapter in the success story is Ameco in Beijing. The first joint venture between Lufthansa and Air China has developed the largest aircraft maintenance facility in China today and remains on a growth path. On 22 September, the foundation stone was laid for the A380 hangar, which will be the largest maintenance hangar in Asia. When the 700-million-yuan(about 70-million-euro) hangar is completed in March 2008, it will be able to accommodate two Airbus A380s, two boeing Boeing 747-400s and two Boeing 777s simultaneously. “This investment today is creating tomorrow’s jobs and tomorrow’s profits,” said Mayrhuber.
The 80th anniversary of Lufthansa’s involvement in China is one of the three pillars of the company’s strategic campaign over the next few years. The topics “Experience the Future“ with the Airbus A380 and the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing are two further pillars that underscore Lufthansa’s longstanding expertise and competency in China.
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