August 22, 2007	Wednesday	Sha’aban 8, 1428

ISLAMABAD, Aug 21: German airline Lufthansa will re-launch its operations from Pakistan in October after a gap of about 10 years.

“On Oct 28, Lufthansa German Airlines will launch its flights from Germany to Pakistan, connecting … Karachi and Lahore with Frankfurt thrice a week,” Mr Joachim Steinbach, Lufthansa’s vice-president said at a press briefing on Tuesday.

The airline said it would operate Airbus A-300 on the Karachi-Lahore-Frankfurt route.

Lufthansa had been flying to Pakistan since 1959, but stopped its operations in 1998 citing operational reasons.

Mr Steinbach said Pakistan’s economic turnaround had been the main motivation behind the resumption of operations. “Pakistan, with its vibrant … economy, offers excellent opportunities to further develop our route network,” he said, adding the huge number of multinationals in Pakistan totalling 180, and about 50 new companies coming in every year was another major reason for resuming flights.