Lufthansa German Airlines announced the expansion of flight services to and from China.

Lufthansa says it is starting with five weekly non-stop flights between Nanjing and Frankfurt, effective March 31, 2008 as well as thrice weekly direct flights between Shenyang and Munich via Seoul, effective June 8, 2008.

Lufthansa is the first and only European airline connecting Europe to these two Chinese cities, which are both important gateways for millions of Chinese passengers across the country. The commencement of these flights will make the cities of Nanjing and Shenyang the newest destinations in Lufthansa's global network, expanding Lufthansa's Asia-Pacific gateways to a total of 23.

"We are very proud to enhance our presence in mainland China by adding both Nanjing and Shenyang as new destinations to our global network.  Both cities are important economic and industrial centres, offering Lufthansa the prospect of capturing significant business opportunities.   The area has seen a dramatic boost of business and air traffic demand in China in recent years and the new flight offerings will see the economic ties and cultural exchange further strengthen between these two important regions and Europe," said Wolfgang Mayrhuber, chairman and CEO of Lufthansa.