Lufthansa has applied to introduce the A380, the world’s largest passenger aircraft at present, on its Delhi-Frankfurt route as per a report in HT. It has been over a year but there has been no word from the Indian government. Sources said permission was unlikely to come anytime soon.

“Part of the reason why the government refuses permission is because the likes of Air India and Jet Airways cannot compete with such a big capacity competition,” felt Saj Ahmad, London-based airline analyst from FBE Aerospace.

“Lufthansa is desperate to operate the A380 to India for a variety of reasons: it’s a big and growing market, it has untapped demand and is one of a few countries capable of handling the jet,” Ahmad said.