By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter
Lufthansa is gearing up to bolster public awareness of the German carrier, said Christian Schindler, Lufthansa general manager for Korea.
Schindler, appointed to the post Aug. 15, will take the helm of the airline's Korean operations for the next five years.
Lufthansa has been operational in Korea since 1966 and has expanded its presence here. Still, its brand has not been recognized in Korea as much as overseas.
``We are very reputed and big company in Korea, but we are not still so renowned in Korea. Our goal is to create more awareness about Lufthansa here. Lufthansa is a major brand in the world, and we want to achieve the same level in Korea,'' Schindler said in a recent interview with The Korea Times.
Lufthansa operates seven weekly flights on the Seoul-Frankfurt route, three on Busan-Seoul-Munich, and three on Munich-Seoul-Shenyang.
The 38-year-old sees great potential in the Korean market, citing strong tourism and business demands. ``Koreans love to travel, and there are a lot of business relationships as well, because Korea has many multinational companies working in Korea.''
The general manager said the Korean market grows each year, unlike the Chinese market which is the biggest in the world but still a booming one, and Japanese market which is already mature. ``That's why we started the Busan flight last year and added Shenyang services this year. Last year, we increased capacity by 40 percent and this year 25 percent again. These are huge increases, and no one has seen the same increases by any other foreign carriers. This makes clear that our passenger figures are developing very positively.''
Schindler also expressed his goal to position Lufthansa as the carrier between Korea and Europe, not only between Korea and Germany. ``We are the carrier providing the best quality transportation between Europe and Korea. We offer the broadest range of cities and destinations in Europe among all carriers. From Frankfurt and Munich, we can go to all of Europe,'' he said.
He introduced Lufthansa's active participation in corporate social responsibility (CSR). Crane, the carrier's symbol, has become an endangered species, and Lufthansa started a campaign in which people can learn how to protect the species and about the importance of the environment.
``We have one of most modern fleets in the world. This is very good for the environment, as they are fuel-efficient. Our fuel consumption has gone down over the years although we have increased the number of planes,'' Schindler said.
The airline also operates a charity program in which frequent fliers can donate their mileage to be converted into money.
Since joining Lufthansa in 1991, he was assigned the networking planning manager for domestic and Benelux passenger services, and as network planning manager and coordinator for the Munich Hub. In 1998, he became business partnership manager and in 2001 was promoted to global corporate key account manager. Since 2004, he was general manager of Morocco until being assigned to Korea.