Lufthansa thinks starting an Indian airline is a bad idea

Lufthansa said starting a domestic airline in India, the world’s fastest growing aviation market, will be a “misadventure” because of high jet fuel taxes and the cost of operations. Lufthansa’s comments come weeks after Qatar Airways said it plans to start an airline in India with as many as 100 planes, as the Gulf carrier looks for a bigger share of a market projected to sell half a billion domestic tickets in a decade. Singapore Airlines, Etihad Airways and AirAsia have also bought stakes in local carriers buoyed by an emerging middle-class flying for the first time. “You only go make business when you have business plans which give you hope that you can be very successful,” said Wolfgang Will, a senior director for South Asia at Lufthansa, “And I did not hear up to now of any domestic airline in India making a lot of profit.” Lufthansa has a history of running an Indian airline. It was part of a partnership that ran ModiLuft, which was grounded in 1996 after disputes over payments with the German carrier, creditors, oil companies and the Airports Authority of India. The airline’s permit was later used by two entrepreneurs to start SpiceJet, now India’s second-largest budget carrier.<br/>