10.4. International Highlights - Lufthansa: Increased Business Travel to Baku

Winter 2002 (10.4)
Page 86

International Highlights
Lufthansa: Increased Business Travel to Baku

The year 2002 showed marked success for Lufthansa on its Frankfurt-Baku route. The demand for international business and leisure travel from Baku to Europe and North America has increased to an unprecedented level.

Prospects for 2003 are quite positive, as there will most likely be even more foreign investment in Azerbaijan, especially in the oil sector. Projects like the BTC (Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan) pipeline will spur considerable travel activity, particularly to and from the United States and UK. Direct traffic to Germany is also strongly increasing, as are leisure and private trips made by Azerbaijanis to Southern and Eastern Europe.

In the past year, the Baku airport's facilities and management were dramatically improved. New duty-free shops and restaurant facilities in the international departure zone have made the airport more comfortable for passengers. Baku airport authorities and their ground operation have demonstrated very convincingly that they are ready to cope with extreme winter conditions. Despite the harsh conditions of rain and snow this past winter, no related flight irregularities occurred for Lufthansa's flight operations at the Baku airport.

As a token of appreciation for its loyal customers in Azerbaijan, Lufthansa will introduce Winter Special roundtrip fares between January 15 and March 8, 2003: BakuEurope from USD 499, and BakuNorth America from USD 699.

Lufthansa opened its office in Baku in May 1995 and is the only airline to operate there with modern A-310 wide body aircraft. The airline's schedule allows for fast connections from Frankfurt directly to other major global destinations. In fact, 90 percent of the passengers from Azerbaijan have continuing connections beyond Frankfurt.

Contact: Hans Reinartz, General Manager for Azerbaijan, Lufthansa, Hyatt International Center, 1033 Izmir, 5th Floor, Baku. Tel: (994-12) 90-70-50/ -51/ -52; Fax: 90-70-49; lufthansa@artel.net.az; LUFTHANSA.com.
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