Lufthansa Group Chief Executive Officer Carsten Spohr says his firm is considering developing Berlin Tegel into a longhaul hub for its budget subsidiary, Eurowings (EW, Düsseldorf).

Spohr told a media conference this week that the German capital's market segmentation showed it to be more inclined towards private rather than business travel.

“We want to expand here significantly over the next few years as we believe that the role played by Berlin as an aviation location is growing," he said.

Negotiations are underway to include Tegel in Eurowings' long-haul operations which will commence out of its initial Cologne/Bonn hub this coming winter season. Using a fleet of A330-200s wet-leased from SunExpress Deutschland (Frankfurt International), Eurowings will offer budget flights to Bangkok Suvarnabhumi, Dubai International, Mauritius, Phuket, Puerto Plata, Punta Cana, and Varadero.