Lufthansa celebrates 40 years of continuous service to Hong Kong

Native-speaking attendants to be added on all China-Europe routes

Lufthansa German Airlines celebrates 40 years of continuous passenger service to Hong Kong this month after landing and taking off some 20,000 times at Kai Tak and Chek Lap Kok and cutting the flight time from Frankfurt from 25 and a half hours to 11 and a half.

The first flight, a Boeing 707 carrying 128 passengers, landed on January 24, 1961. It had arrived via Rome, Cairo, Karachi, Calcutta and Bangkok.

"Today we don't need to stop at all. We fly from Europe to Hong Kong in less than half the time," said Juergen Thomsen, Lufthansa's General Manager for Southern China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau. "It must have been very romantic to land at all those cities on the way here, but the modern world has different demands.

"Then, there were only three flights a week. Now we operate ten, using Boeing 747-400s and A340s, both daytime and night-time flights, with most of them either full or close to capacity.

"It has been a wonderful 40 years for Lufthansa working in partnership with Hong Kong. Now we are looking forward to the next 40."

The airline is celebrating with a series of promotions and bargain fares on its website www.lufthansa-greaterchina.com and a cocktail reception combined with a photo exhibition for the travel trade on January 18.

The anniversary coincides with the announcement of the introduction of native Chinese flight attendants on regularly scheduled flights connecting Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai with Frankfurt. They will provide Chinese-speaking passengers with in-flight services in their own language.

The 60 new Chinese flight attendants are based in Frankfurt where they are currently undergoing two months of extensive training at the Lufthansa flight crew training centre. Their training will also include German language classes. By Spring, the airline will have a total of 100 Chinese flight attendants working on flights connecting China and Germany.

Lufthansa operates daily flights from Beijing and six flights a week from Shanghai as well as ten flights from Hong Kong. Three Hong Kong flights will be switched from Frankfurt to Munich on March 25, offering access to the expanding business areas of southern Germany and extensive connections to Eastern Europe.

"Lufthansa is committed to the continued development of business in the China market. With China about to join the World Trade Organisation, this is another way of showing that we mean to offer the best service possible," said Mr Thomsen.

Lufthansa German Airlines was named “Airline of the Year 2000” by Air Transport World, the internationally famous aviation magazine. It was recently placed fourth in the airline section of Fortune magazine's list of the world's most admired companies and corporations.

As a founding member of the Star Alliance, Lufthansa has developed one of the most comprehensive alliance networks in the industry, with partnerships serving all six continents.