Air India?s entry into the Star Alliance has led the national carrier to almost decide on Munich as its European Hub. The national carrier is expected to announce the decision next week after all approvals are met and a deal is signed by the airport and airline officials.
?The strong presence of Lufthansa, one of the founding members with nine affiliates of the Star Alliance, is the main factor behind Air India deciding on Munich airport as its European hub,? official sources said. ?The Munich international airport offered better incentives to Air India,? they added.
These incentives include 40% of its parking allocations at its Terminal 2 (space for up to 30 aircraft) for India?s national carrier and lounge facility for its passengers.
Other incentives include 25% discount on landing fees and 20% on ground handling charges.
Besides, other perks have also been offered to Air India including certain passenger facilities like transfer for the Indian passengers to a single terminal for easier onward connectivity, around five check-in counters and office space, sources said.
Air India was expected to announce its choice for a European hub based on the formal induction into the alliance.
Air India has been unable to get the desired slot at the Heathrow Airport in London and Paris due to congestion and so the airline has decided not to use either for transit traffic and instead use another European city.
?We need a partner airline which is also a strong base airline in that particular hub to have maximum number of flights,? an Air-India executive said. Lufthansa?s hub is also in Munich.