Lufthansa has underscored its commitment to football by penning a renewed deal as official partner of the German Football Federation (DFB). At a joint press conference in Frankfurt, the airline and DFB announced that they are extending their cooperation agreement for a further three-year term. As part of the accord, German teams, coaches and DFB officials will continue to fly with Lufthansa to international games in Germany and other countries - including the next major event in the soccer calendar, the 2008 European Championship in Austria and Switzerland. The Lufthansa logo will, moreover, be ever-present in all DFB advertising. Additionally, Lufthansa and the DFB are planning joint activities, such as PR events with DFB representatives.

Thierry Antinori, Lufthansa Executive Vice President Marketing and Sales, expressed his satisfaction at the extension of the agreement: “We are looking forward to the further cooperation with immense pleasure. The euphoria generated by the 2006 FIFA World Cup here in Germany will profit football and it will profit us,” so Antinori. He emphasized simultaneously: “The renewed cooperation is a further confirmation that Lufthansa is and remains the ‘sports airline’.”

Wolfgang Niersbach, DFB General Secretary, added: “Lufthansa and the DFB are a good pair. At EURO 2008 especially, we’ll be relying on this proven partnership for the flights we have to organize to different venues from the German team’s Swiss base at Lugano.”

As the “Sports Airline”, Lufthansa has cooperated for years with the German Football Federation and top German team Bayern Munich. At the Handball World Championships in Germany earlier this year, Lufthansa was one of the major sponsors.  The Handball Cup Final will become the “Lufthansa Final Four”, encompassing both semi-finals in the next three years. The airline is a “national promoter” of the German Sports Aid Foundation and has for many years been partner of the National Olympic Committee and, since May 2006, of the German Olympic Sports Association (DOSB).  In that capacity, it traditionally carries German teams to the Olympic Games and the Paralympics.
——-