Lufthansa Systems Group GmbH said it is in talks with several airlines in China to sell its information technology solutions in the country, which is one of the world's few fast-growing air travel markets.

The company, a unit under Germany's Lufthansa Group offering IT service and solutions for air carriers worldwide, also plans to set up an office in Shanghai around the end of this year and expects the expansion to help it grow its revenue by more than 8 percent in Asia annually.

"As Chinese airlines grow quickly these years and the country gradually opens its skies, they ask for advise on how to do business overseas and how to improve their systems," said Gunter Kuchler, managing director of Lufthansa Systems.

Shanghai Airlines Co Ltd is one of the carriers the firm is talking to, company officials indicated at a meeting Monday.

So far, the German firm has already won a deal to set up a complete IT system for the air cargo subsidiary of Air China, the country's national carrier.

Given opportunities that China's aviation industry is undergoing via reforms and loosening of several restricted policies, carriers will have to improve in sectors like punctuality, route planning, pricing and revenue management with better IT solutions, said an industry expert who only gave his surname as Li.

Lufthansa Systems, which has 60 percent of its turnover coming from its Lufthansa German Airlines, is seeking expansion outside the group and even outside the aviation industry to avoid dependence on a single sector.

(Shanghai Daily April 27, 2004)