Lufthansa German Airlines was named  the "Best International Carrier - off-line" at the AFTA National Travel Industry Awards in Sydney on Saturday night, an accolade the airline has won for seven consecutive years in a row.  

Marlene Sanau, Lufthansa's General Manager said: "We are very honored to receive this prestigious award and would like to thank each and every agent for supporting us!

'To be nominated and among the ranks of such high caliber airlines is an honor in itself. We motivate each other on a daily basis aiming to achieve the best service for our partners and customers. On behalf of my team, who this really belongs to, I accept this as we continue to strive and meet your expectations in the years to come."

The award was accepted by Marlene Sanau and Carmen Jurczyk, Lufthansa's Marketing & Sales Manager, on behalf of the entire Australian team - a team that represents Lufthansa and Austrian Airlines in Australia. In 2008 Lufthansa was awarded to the Hall of Fame for three consecutive wins in the best off-line airline category.

Lufthansa is the leading European airline in the Asia-Pacific region and a founding member of Star Alliance.

The Lufthansa Group

Deutsche Lufthansa AG is the leading European Aviation Group. The Lufthansa Group is dedicated to quality and innovation, safety and reliability. Headquartered in Germany, the Group operates in five business segments - passenger transportation (Passenger Airline Group), logistics, MRO, catering and IT services. Passenger transportation is the Group's core business: The airlines engaged in the passenger transportation business are Lufthansa Passenger Airlines, Austrian Airlines, British Midland, SWISS and Germanwings as well as stakeholdings in Brussels Airlines, JetBlue und SunExpress. In the 2010 business year, the airlines in the Lufthansa Group welcomed more than 90 million passengers on board their flights, making it Europe's leading airline grouping. Operating through the Frankfurt, Munich, Vienna, Brussels and Zurich hubs, Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, British Midland, Brussels Airlines and SWISS jointly serve 283 destinations in 105 countries on four continents. The Group fleet currently consists of 710 aircraft - on order are another 160, valued at a total of more than15 billion euros at list price and scheduled for delivery until 2016. With its ongoing expenditure in fleet renewal, the Group is consistently making the fleet more cost-efficient and its operations more environment-friendly. End of 2010 the Lufthansa Group employed more than 117,000 people. In the 2010 business year, it returned revenues totalling 27.3 billion euros. The Group is managed by an Executive Board of four members: Christoph Franz, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Carsten Spohr, Member of the Executive Board and Chief Executive Officer of Lufthansa German Airlines, Stefan Lauer, Member of the Executive Board and Chief Officer Group Airlines and Corporate Human Resources, and Stephan Gemkow, Member of the Executive Board and Chief Financial Officer. More details at www.lufthansa.com.

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