On A high after showing a profit of Rs 46 crore for the first six months this financial year, Air India (A-I) today started a thrice weekly service to Frankfurt. Flagged off by Civil Aviation Minister Syed Shahnawaz Hussain this morning, the Boeing 747-300 combi aircraft took off for Frankfurt with 160 passengers on board. This is the second new service started by the A-I in one week after a flight to Newark, New Jersey, from Mumbai via Paris. The Frankfurt flight will operate on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays.It was a significant occasion for Air India as senior Civil Aviation ministry officials including secretary K Roy Paul — who is also Chairman of the A-I — were present early this morning. Talking to mediapersons later, Hussain said new destinations will be added on the A-I’s list after the acquisition of new aircraft. The Civil Aviation Minister said that the process of acquisition of aircraft for both Air India and Indian Airlines was at ‘‘final stages’’ with the joint proposal to be put up before the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) in the next meeting.However, sources said acquisition may not happen in the near future since the financial and technical bids in both cases had not been finalised. The proposal had only been cleared by both the respective airlines.Meanwhile, AI officials said the new service will add a capacity of over 1,000 seats every week to Frankfurt. ‘‘Each flight has a capacity of 300 passenger seats and 40 tonnes of cargo, with Frankfurt also being a hub for cargo for the region.“And the A-I code sharing with Lufthansa would mean an additional 120 seats a week,’’ the A-I spokesperson said.
