Lufthansa will start its Calcutta-Frankfurt non-stop flights from December 16. The German airline has upgraded its computer reservation system and put up its Calcutta-Frankfurt schedule of three flights a week. The flights will leave Calcutta on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

On Tuesday, it will take off from Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport at 5.10 am, while on Thursday and Saturday, the departure time will be 3 am.

Officials at Calcutta airport said a Lufthansa delegation had come to the city last month, held a host of meetings and ?sought space for setting up an office, counter and parking bay?.

Lufthansa, which wound up city operations in the 1970s, presently operates only cargo flights to Calcutta. But it connects all the other metros with Frankfurt and other German and European destinations.

?This is a welcome development and will boost travel and tourism in the region,? said Anil Punjabi, chairman (east) of Travel Agents Federation of India.

?Since the German consulate is in Calcutta there will be no problem in getting a visa, making it smooth for tourists,? he added.