Despite concerns by the Indian government that giving foreign airlines the ability to invest in Indian carriers up to 49% would not cause the disruption they fear as foreign investors would not have a majority ownership and therefore would be wary of investing in the country’s aviation assets particularly due to the level of control exerted by the government over airlines.
Alex Hilgers, south Asia director of Lufthansa German Airlines, in an interview with Business Standard, said: “The issue is that 49% is not enough. There are still doubts as to can I do what I want to do with 49%?” he said.
Lufthansa currently flies 747-8s from Delhi to Frankfurt with a load factor of 90% for the past six months, while yields have risen by five to 10% over last year, which are comparable to those in China.
Lufthansa questions India’s FDI cap
