Lufthansa Middle East

But Uwe H.W. Mueller, vice president for Southeast Europe, Africa and Middle East/Pakistan, is the first to admit that this has been a very unusual autumn for the privatised German airline.

'We saw a 15-20 per cent fall in passenger numbers immediately after September 11,' he says. 'Americans simply stopped travelling and that resulted in a decrease in travelling to the Middle East. But our core market is the business traveller, and they are more resilient and our flights will be full again from the end of Ramadan'.

For Lufthansa's boss in the Middle East there is a sense of déjà vu as he was in San Francisco with Lufthansa during the Gulf War. Then there was a similar interruption to air travelling, and the financial repercussions left Lufthansa nearly bankrupt in 1991-1992.

Mr Mueller says that the now privatised German carrier is in a much stronger financial position this time. Indeed, he thinks Lufthansa stands to be one of the survivors in the major shake-up now facing European airlines with the likely consolidation of the airlines into three or four large carriers.

But what assurance can he offer passengers that it is now safe to travel on Lufthansa? How have safety and security procedures been improved since September 11?

'We now have sky marshals on our flights to the US and Middle East,' he says. 'They are disguised and we do not reveal anything more about them.

'From our experience of terrorism in Germany in the 1970s we have a lot of knowledge and experience about how to handle these matters. All the German airports are very secure, and we have 100 per cent baggage identification. But we have not decided to lock the cockpit doors, something that we don't think is an effective measure.

'In fact, Lufthansa was the first European airline to be allowed back into US airspace after September 11 because we were able to comply with the new Federal Aviation Authority requirements almost immediately. These measures include triple x-rays of cabin baggage and strict hand baggage searches and the introduction of plastic cutlery'.

Meanwhile, guests from the Middle East will be greeted by Arabic speaking ground staff in Frankfurt from now on, a recently introduced service that has nothing to do with the events of September 11.

The airline has also invested heavily in Internet services and online booking facilities. And within the next two years Lufthansa expects to offer Internet access on board its flights.

'We have found that Internet booking has taken off more slowly than we hoped in some markets, but in the US and Germany it is popular,' says Mr Mueller. 'But our investment in the Internet is paying off and passengers also have access to their frequent flyer points online. We have our own website covering the Middle East'.

So having survived the turbulence of a rough autumn, Lufthansa will soon be back to its more typical problem. You will have to book a long way ahead to be sure of getting a seat on this cost-competitive and reliable airline.