Lufthansa has no plans to expand its operations within the UK this year, according to its head of sales for the UK and Ireland.

Marianne Sammann, talking to ttgbusiness.com at the launch of Lufthansa Italia in Milan, that the airline must look for “stability” during the recession.

In recent years the German carrier has made huge strides to increase its UK market share.

In the last two years the airline has increased daily services from Heathrow, Manchester and Birmingham, while starting new operations in Bristol and Newcastle. It also acquired a 70% in BMI which has 11% of the slots at Heathrow.

Sammann said Manchester and Birmingham continue to bring success to the airline, but admitted she was concerned about Bristol.

“Growth at Birmingham and Manchester has been positive,” said Sammann.

"The strength of the regional airports is accessibility to a large catchment area. Increasing numbers have been using Lufthansa to connect in Frankfurt and Munich.

“Bristol is maybe too close to Heathrow. We will have to closely monitor the situation.”She said there may be potential for growth in the north-east of England. The airline flies twice weekly from Newcastle to Dusseldorf.

“These flights have been popular and there is potential for growth. We could look at services to Frankfurt or Munich from Newcastle though we are still a long way from that at present.”

Lufthansa has cut 0.5% of capacity from its summer schedule and will soon announce similarly small cuts to its winter programme.
Sammann said: “Quality of frequency is important to our travellers so we need to find a balance