Lufthansa is considering a proposal to Bulgaria Air for joint flights to Frankfurt, Dieter Grosse, Lufthansa regional manager for Bulgaria, said on Thursday.

As Bulgaria Air has no early flight to that destination, Lufthansa is set to negotiate a common ticket sale. Because of the increased number of passengers on Lufthansa's once daily flights from Sofia to Frankfurt, the air company contemplates leasing larger aircraft, such as Boeing or Airbus, to service the Sofia destinations.

Dieter Grosse said that despite the heavy problems facing the company over the Iraq crisis, Lufthansa invested a total of 700 million euros in new aircraft last year. Bulgarian aviation must put efforts into boosting regional air traffic, investing in appropriate aircraft and equipment.

According to Dieter Grosse, it is a very prospective and profitable business for Bulgaria. The way to achieve it is not by increasing ticket prices, but by improving services instead.

Lufthansa is the most active foreign air carrier in Bulgaria, with record traffic of 160,000 passengers to Bulgaria in 2003. That is 11 % more than the previous year, Dieter Grosse stated.

(NewsBase 16.ii.04)