Lufthansa German Airlines introduces daily service to Bahrain

With the further enhancement of the flight schedule travelers enjoy greater flexibility and the convenience of a daily link with Lufthansa's Frankfurt hub, one of the world's leading gateways for air travel.

Less than four years after its market entry in Bahrain, Lufthansa underlines its commitment to the region by introducing a daily direct service to Frankfurt as of September 22, 2009.

Mr. Stefan Loecherbach, Director of Lufthansa and subsidiary Swiss International Air Lines, for Saudi Arabia & Bahrain said:

"I am very pleased to announce the further enhancement of our service from Manama, linking Bahrain to Germany and over 200 Lufthansa destinations in 78 countries via our Frankfurt hub. For business travelers in particular the flexibility that comes with the new daily service is key and we are glad to provide it."

Four of the flights will be nonstop operations to Frankfurt, while the three additional services will be operated with a short intermediate stop in Dammam.

Lufthansa customers enjoy the benefit of a late evening departure on all seven days of the week. On Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, Flight LH625 departs Bahrain at 0:45am, and arrives to Frankfurt at 5:30am. The three flights going via Dammam are operated as flight LH627, departing Bahrain at 11:55pm on Mondays, Wednesday and Fridays, arriving to Frankfurt at 05:55am.

All flights provide lean onward connections to Lufthansa destinations in Germany, numerous other European cities and a vast number of destinations in Lufthansa's intercontinental network.

In the United States, Lufthansa serves some 30 destinations and countless more in cooperation with code share partners United Airlines and affiliate JetBlue, in which Lufthansa holds a 15.6% equity stake.

Effective October 6, the Bahrain/Dammam service will be operated with a brand new Boeing 737-800 Intercontinental, featuring Lufthansa's latest product. The aircraft, which is operated by PrivateAir, is equipped with 32 of Lufthansa's enhanced long haul business class seats, which can be turned into a two-meter lie-flat bed. The 60 seat economy class features an all new seat model with individual in-flight entertainment.

"The 737-800 Intercontinental to be operated on our Bahrain-Frankfurt route is a state-of-the-art product in terms of cabin comfort, in-flight entertainment and aircraft technology. And, most importantly, it allows us to increase the number of flights on the route by 75%, even in today's adverse overall economic environment," said Schaher Murad, Regional Manager for Bahrain and the eastern province of Saudi Arabia.

Arriving to Frankfurt Business Class passengers and status customers can look forward to yet another highlight: Lufthansa's exclusive Welcome Lounge. The facility, which was newly opened in January of this year, is geared to the needs of travelers arriving on long-haul Lufthansa flights.

The lounge provides all the amenities arriving passengers would look for in order to freshen up after an intercontinental flight. In addition to a comprehensive breakfast and snack buffet, comfort areas and quite zones, a modern shower area on the lower level is one of the lounge's most exclusive features.

It encompasses 28 high-end showers in an elegant design that invite guests to relax and prepare for the day ahead. A concierge is on hand to allocate the shower facilities and coordinate further customer wishes such as the ironing service for HON Circle members, First Class guests and Senators. Passengers with onward connections find a number of First Class, Senator and Business Class lounges.

Lufthansa German Airlines has steadily increased its presence in the Gulf region over the course of the past four years. It has done so step by step and in line with market demand. Lufthansa is committed to a sustainable and profitable development of its route network.

Together with its affiliate SWISS, based in Zurich/Switzerland, the German carrier serves seven destinations in the Gulf states, including Bahrain, Dammam, Doha, Kuwait, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Muscat. Further destinations, which are served in the Middle East, include Beirut, Amman, Riyadh, Jeddah, Sana'a and Tehran.

Lufthansa flights can be booked online at www.lufthansa.com, at the Lufthansa office in Manama or through a customer's favorite travel agent.

"For the coming months, we have a number of attractive offers in store. And we have a number of interesting loyalty programs tailored to the specific needs of different customer segments," Schaher Murad announced.

Choosing to fly with Lufthansa means being able to enjoy the many benefits of Miles & More. Founded by Lufthansa's in 1993, Miles & More today counts more than 15 million members, making it Europe's largest and most successful frequent flyer program. It was since joined by a number of Lufthansa's European partner airlines, with Lufthansa's subsid-iary SWISS and the recently acquired Austrian Airlines being the most prominent.

An incentive scheme for small to medium sized companies is in place with the 'Partner-PlusBenefit' -program of Lufthansa with its own webpage available to companies enrolled. With Lufthansa's PartnerPlusBenefit it pays to fly; for every Lufthansa flight taken in Econ-omy and Business class, the company benefits by collecting valuable Benefit Points which can be redeemed for attractive awards.

PPB is one of the best cost saving corporate incentive programs Lufthansa has to offer. It aims to reduce the overall travel budget for our customers and to benefit both, the company and their employees.