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Lufthansa continues Asia drive with Singapore Airlines deal

A Lufthansa airline logo is pictured in Frankfurt airport, Germany, November 6, 2015. REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski

BERLIN (Reuters) - German airline group Lufthansa signed a partnership deal with premium Asian carrier Singapore Airlines, part of a strategy to boost its presence in Asia and defend market share from fast-growing Gulf carriers. Lufthansa already has a joint venture with Japanese carrier ANA and has a tentative deal in place with Air China, although a final signing of a firm deal with the Chinese airline has yet to occur. "More such deals will follow," a spokesman for Lufthansa said on Wednesday. Under the deal with Singapore Airlines, the two carriers will operate flights between Singapore and the European cities of Frankfurt, Munich and Zurich under revenue-sharing agreements, which now have to be approved by authorities. The deal also includes more than 20 new codeshare routes and this will be expanded to more routes in the future, Lufthansa said in a statement. Lufthansa airlines Swiss and Austrian are participating in the agreement, as is Singapore carrier SilkAir. Lufthansa shares were up 1.6 percent at 1300 GMT, slightly outperforming the Dax. (Reporting by Victoria Bryan; Editing by Karolin Schaps and David Evans)