European airline group Lufthansa on Monday signed a codeshare agreement with full-service carrier Vistara. Under the new partnership as many as 126 weekly flights will be added to ten major Indian cities. This will be in addition to Lufthansa’s current schedule of 56 weekly international flights to and from the major Indian hubs of Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai with ultra-modern aircraft like the Airbus A350.

Apart from the major cities, the agreement also covers new cities like Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Kochi, Hyderabad, Goa and Pune.

Vistara’s Chief Strategy Officer Vinod Kannan said, “As a growing global carrier, one of our key goals is to offer an extended international network to our customers through such strategic associations. This also lets inbound travelers experience Vistara – India’s only five-star airline. Our codeshare with Lufthansa is another important step in this direction and helps us widen our customer base outside of India.”

As per the reports, the two major airlines are further aiming to expand the scope of the agreement, which will allow frequent fliers of Lufthansa and Vistara to earn miles or points when travelling on each other’s networks.

Meanwhile, George Ettiyil, Senior Director Sales for the Lufthansa Group Airlines in South Asia said, “This marks Lufthansa’s commitment to offering its Indian customers world-class international travel experiences and will enable them to use their preferred mileage program on codeshare routes. By teaming up with Vistara, we will strengthen and expand our position as the leading and most popular European airline in India – a country all set to become the third-largest aviation market in just a few years’ time.”

Vistara, is a joint venture between Tata Sons Limited and Singapore Airlines Limited (SIA) which operates over 200 flights a day with a fleet of 27 Airbus A320 and 9 Boeing 737-800NG aircraft, and has flown more than 19 million customers since starting operations.

On the other hand, Lufthansa is the only airline in Europe to have received a 5th star – the highest quality seal in international aviation. The airline is part of the Lufthansa Group, which currently operates 56 weekly international flights to and from the major Indian cities. Overall, Lufthansa Group airlines serve 270 destinations in 105 countries on four continents, offering 11,000 weekly frequencies (winter 19/20). The current fleet is comprised of 800 aircraft.